Australia’s Northern Territory government has introduced a new health direction that allows workers who are essential to the operation of critical frontline services to still work if they are a close contact of a COVID-19 case. Issued on Monday, the direction means that employees such as healthcare, childcare, and supermarket workers who are deemed close contacts can front up to work as long as they are fully vaccinated and take a rapid antigen test (RAT) each day. Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Monday that as OMICRON spreads, managing COVID-19 includes making sure the Territory’s essential services stay open and stay staffed. This comes after daily COVID-19 cases in the Territory hit a peak of 594 on Saturday, and the high number of close contacts has meant staff shortages across multiple businesses and services, which has affected business in the state, with bare supermarket shelves becoming a common …