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Staff at the Howard Springs quarantine facility will no longer be tested for COVID-19 using rapid diagnostic technology, as the Northern Territory government changes protocols at one of Australiaâs major pandemic arrival points.
In a move that has left commercial suppliers baffled, the Northern Territoryâs Chief Health Officer last week issued a directive requiring staff working at Centre for National Resilience near Darwin to undergo daily polymerase chain reaction tests â known as PCR testing.
Travellers in quarantine at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory.Â
Ben Sale
Ending the use of rapid antigen testing for quarantine workers means that, instead of getting results in as little as 15 minutes, staff at Howard Springs could be required to wait as long as six to 24 hours.