Third wave of marines

THERE are now 900 US marines in Darwin after a third contingent arrived on Wednesday evening.

The arrivals have entered a 14-day quarantine, and more marines will arrive in coming weeks, building up to a force of about 1200 to train in Darwin until September.

“Each marine was given a fresh mask before exiting the aircraft,” a marines spokeswoman said. “They received the first of two COVID-19 tests, conducted biosecurity inspections and were then placed in quarantine facilities.”