In Darwin’s international arrival quarantine facility, strict daily routines stop COVID-19’s spread

“You go to the local supermarket and it’s in the back of your mind: ‘Am I that person?’ And none of us want to be that person,” Abigail Trewin says.

It’s the keenest fear among staff managing quarantine for thousands of Australians arriving from COVID-stricken countries at the Centre for National Resilience.

Ms Trewin, from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre — the specialist team managing international arrivals at the facility south-east of Darwin — worries one small slip-up could result in infectious staff moving through the general community.

It’s this concern that drives her team of nurses, doctors, support staff, caterers and security guards to deliver an infection control regime considered Australia’s most…