The contingent of Marines training in Australia has reached full strength for this year’s coronavirus-affected rotation after a final group of U.S. service members emerged from quarantine, according to the unit’s commander.

The rotational force, which has trained in Australia during the southern hemisphere’s winter months each year since 2012, has deployed just over 1,000 Marines this year, Banning said.

That’s fewer than the 1,200 the Marines had planned to rotate and well short of the 2,500 sent Down Under last year.

The mission was delayed two months by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced Marines to quarantine for two weeks after they arrive in Australia.

Only one Marine tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Australia, according to Royal Australian Air Force Grp. Capt. Stewart Dowrie, who leads Australia’s Northern Command.

The US Marine who tested positive to COVID-19 remains in isolation at the Royal Darwin Hospital pending confirmation of a negative test result.

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A US marine has tested positive to coronavirus in Darwin.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the 21-year-old Marine arrived in the city a few days ago on a charter flight.

She said the Marine had very minimal contact with any residents after he travelled through the military side of Darwin airports to the Robinson barracks.

“The man has been in quarantine since his arrival in Darwin on 8 July,” NT chief minister, Michael Gunner told reporters.

All 32 cases of COVID-19 in the NT are related to international or interstate travel, with no cases of community transmission.

The marine tested positive for the virus while in quarantine after arriving in Darwin on a charter flight and is being transferred to Royal Darwin Hospital.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the marine arrived in the Northern Territory "a few days ago" and disembarked through the military side of Darwin Airport.

Ms Fyles said the marine has potentially had "very, very minimal contact" with any Territorians.

The marine was in Darwin as part of the annual Marine Rotational Force hosted in the Northern Territory.

The original rotation of about 2,500 marines was postponed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds gave approval for the reduced contingent in May.

Facing what a Trump administration official recently called "the most significant geopolitical challenge since the end of the Cold War" in the Indo-Pacific theater, the U.S. military will embark on a realignment of its global posture.

Several thousand of the troops currently posted in Germany are expected to redeploy to American bases in Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, Japan and Australia.

The 9,500 who are leaving will be reassigned elsewhere in Europe, redeployed to the Indo-Pacific region, or sent back to bases in the U.S.