Thirteen of the 17 close contacts of a Tasmanian teenager who was confirmed to have been active in the community while COVID positive have returned negative tests.
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Cabinet Minister Michael Ferguson on Sunday confirmed only four more close contacts, and nine contacts in total, were awaiting test results.
"There's still nine results that are pending in total and we just can't be complacent. One or more of those could be positive, we're acting as if they are," he said.
"[But] it's going in the right direction. It feels like we've had great management and some luck here to see these negative results coming forward ... it was potentially a very dangerous exposure situation."
The state was plunged back into COVID-uncertainty when the 15-year-old broke home quarantine directions and went to Newnham IGA, resulting in a concentrated contact tracing and testing direction by the state's Public Health Department.
In total, 74 close and casual contacts of the teenager were informed of their virus possibility and directed to get tested and quarantine.
Fifty-two of the 57 casual contacts had returned a negative test. The 17 close contacts returned another negative test earlier in the week, and 35 casual contacts traced as of October 5 had also returned negative tests.
Public Health Director Dr Mark Veitch said previously the likelihood of further positive cases, particularly considering the teenager had been confirmed to have the Delta strain, was "quite high".
Dr Veitch said it would require a 12 to 14-day wait before it would be known if all 74 contacts were completely in the clear.
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