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.

Gunn Point is a favourite fishing and camping spot, but it in the future it may be home to a port, irrigation farming, and possibly even a new town.

A second Darwin port has been talked about for years, and found itself back in the headlines last year when stories emerged of "secret plans" to develop Glyde Point to accommodate US Marines.

But on its website the Planning Commission makes the deliberate point that "there are no current plans for Defence infrastructure within the Gunn Point Peninsula".

no current plans

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.

The Navy and Marine Corps in Japan moved Thursday to isolate and track coronavirus cases that have popped up on their installations on Okinawa and just outside Tokyo.

Meanwhile, the governor of Tokyo reported 224 new infections in the metro area Thursday, a surge that exceeded the previous high of 206 on April 17.

For a second time this week, an undisclosed number of people associated with the Marine Corps on Okinawa tested positive for the virus, adding to the number of cases there, according to a Thursday news release from Marine Corps Installations Pacific.

On Okinawa, the Marines on Thursday would not specify how many people tested positive, only that they fell under the status of forces agreement and were on installations that comprise the widespread Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler.