Quarantine detainees at Howard Springs have been jumping between the red zone – where people with COVID-19 and some of their close contacts reside – into other sections of the facility to see family and friends, sources have told the NT Independent.

The accusations come after a male detainee jumped a fence Friday evening into a waiting ute that took him to a Mitchell St bar, before police could identify him.

The breaches have also raised concerns about security at the facility amid repatriation flights from South Africa, which was the centre of a recently identified new variant of COVID-19 called Omicron.

One well-placed source inside the facility said the act of moving between the different sections was a breach of health protocols, with breaches at “record levels”. They said people had been moving between the red zone and other zones, or from other zones into the red zone.

The red zone was described as “COVID central”, where people with the virus or close contacts stay isolated from the rest of the quarantine population.

Regulations dictate that people must stay in their nominated zones and are not allowed away from their cabin, except to go to the laundry.

NT Health and NT Police did not respond to requests for comment on the alleged breaches, including why the breaches were not made public at the daily press conferences by Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker.

Another source, who wanted to remain anonymous, said based on the location of his bungalow in relation to the red zone – where the zone hoppers were appearing from – he was confident they were coming from the red zone, into the lower security zone but could not confirm because he had not actually seen people getting through, or over the fences.

The source said the camp was separated internally by temporary chain mesh fencing but people were aware that many of the gates were left unlocked and knew the code to the locks.

“I think they have brought in the AFP, as well as the regular cops and the security firms,” they said.

“They are pretty hot on them at the moment. The police look like they have the situation under control now, but they were hopping over fences.

“I think they have explained that they are putting their community at risk.

“Everyone knows half the gates are unlocked. I was sitting on the verandah at night and caught one lad sneaking between bungalows. There seems to be a large family and some were moving back and forth, sharing cigarettes.”

There has been a large increase in the amount of Territorians in the domestic side of Howard Springs from the COVID-19 outbreak in Greater Darwin, Katherine and Robinson River.

But the facility also houses hundreds of people from repatriation flights from around the world.

NT Chief Health Officer Charles Pain told media on Saturday that health officials were running genomic testing at the facility for the Omicron variant, adding there was nothing to indicate the variant was at Howard Springs.

“Quarantine is the best guarantee against any [public] transmission,” he said.

In May, the NT Government assumed responsibility for operations at the Howard Springs quarantine facility from the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) which had been overseeing it, through a controversial deal with the Federal Government to facilitate repatriation flights.

On Friday, a 27-year-old male jumped the fence at the facility into a waiting ute on the other side and was apprehended hours later at a Mitchell Street bar, which officials said was a “low risk” case.

In October last year, a short clip posted to TikTok showed a group of about 20 people participating in the taxpayer-subsidised “hotel quarantine rave” to The Jam by Kideko for a birthday party.

Last weekend, a 77-year-old man who was quarantining at the facility from the UK was found dead, in what authorities said was a non-COVID related death. The incident sparked accusations of breaches of duty of care at the facility.