Hundreds of police officers will descend on the NSW Mid North Coast, hoping a massive high-intensity search based on new leads and evidence will help find missing boy William Tyrrell.

9News understands specialists in uncovering and examining human bones are on their way to three sites near Kendall, areas which have previously never been searched in the seven-year mystery of what happened to William.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett from NSW Police refused to reveal if there had been a tip-off or a human source was involved.

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But he underlined the search would focus on new areas, go underground, involve "specialist assistance" and new technologies.

"It's highly likely that we, if we found something, it would be a body," he said.

"We are looking for the remains of William Tyrrell, no doubt about that."

Chief Superintendent Bennett said the search was being guided by "the holistic nature of a number of pieces of evidence … and we think it provides us with the best chance of finding him".

William, at the time aged three, disappeared from his foster grandmother's property on Benaroon Drive in Kendall at about 10.30am on September 12, 2014.

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Today police officers were seen returning to the house he vanished from.

About a kilometre down the road, NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers are clearing undergrowth ahead of a dig tomorrow.

These searches in previously untouched areas could take up to three weeks.

Police dogs were also used to comb the area today.

Chief Superintendent Bennett said the search was "not speculative in any way" and that police were working on behalf of the coroner.

"There is a large amount of work to be undertaken," he said.

"We're using specialist areas and people from outside the police force."

Police and other agencies would "clear ground" and "go subterranean" in a number of locations, he said.

Chief Superintendent Bennett said police were "very hopeful" that the new search would finally bring clarity to a case which has baffled the country for years.

Several times during today's media briefing Chief Superintendent Bennett made clear police were chasing a fresh lead, and that they were dealing with specifics.

"This is in response to evidence we've obtained in the course of the investigation," he said.

"There's no doubt about that."

Despite a massive search for William, who would have turned 10 in June, and the investigation continuing over several phases, the little boy has never been found.

Over the years, police have put pressure on several suspects who have since been ruled out.

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Evidence of boy's 'scream' at coronial inquest

The 18-month coronial inquest into William's disappearance in the NSW Coroners Court is yet to deliver its findings but, according to Chief Superintendent Bennett, it has proven pivotal in driving today's sudden development.

During the inquest, resident Anna Baker gave evidence and said she heard a young boy scream in bushland near the home of a convicted criminal, not long after William vanished.

Ms Baker, who lived at Herons Creek, not far from the Kendall home of William's foster grandmother, told the court she had wandered into her strawberry patch on the afternoon of September 13, 2014, when she heard the noise.

"It didn't go for very long, it sounded like maybe he's hurt."

Another Kendall local, Ron Chapman, told the inquest he was 100 per cent sure he saw William being driven away "at speed" on the morning he vanished.

Mr Chapman claimed he saw an "old box-type four-wheel-drive" being driven by a woman in her late 20s or early 30s and a boy in the back seat wearing a Spider-Man suit.

"A young boy with his hands up against the window. He was standing, he was unrestrained, he wasn't crying," he said.

A previously unseen photograph of William, so often portrayed in his little Spider-Man suit, also emerged during the inquest.

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Other photos taken from CCTV footage inside a McDonald's show William, his foster mum and dad entering the fast food outlet on the evening of September 11, 2014.

At one point, William sits on the shoulders of his foster dad.

They order a meal at the counter and sit to eat for about 10 minutes before leaving.

The family had stopped at the McDonald's at Heatherbraeon on their way up to Kendall, after leaving their Sydney home.

A $1 million reward for information leading to William's recovery remains in place.

In September, on the anniversary of William's disappearance, police returned to the property to conduct fresh examinations.

Detectives inspected the porch, balcony and backyard of the house, pulling out maps as they searched nearby streets.

William's foster grandmother died in March this year.

Two new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Northern Territory in a remote Aboriginal community.

The first is a fully vaccinated, 43-year-old Aboriginal man.

He lives with seven others in Katherine East but he also spends time in the Robinson River community.

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He had a COVID-19 test on November 9 which came back negative.

On Saturday, November 13 he was tested again and this result came back positive today.

Health authorities are treating him as though he has been infectious since November 10.

The second case is a 30-year-old Aboriginal woman who was a household contact of the man.

She flew into the Robinson River remote Aboriginal community, where she is a resident, on November 11.

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She is symptomatic and underwent a point of care test today in Robertson River, which has returned an initial positive result.

Health authorities are treating her as being infectious in the Robinson River community since November 11.

"It's undoubtedly the most serious update I've had to give you since the start of the pandemic because it involves a case in a remote community, but we are very prepared for this," NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said today.

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Mr Gunner said there is a lack of a clear link between today's first case, the 43-year-old Aboriginal man and the previous cases linked to the Darwin Katherine cluster.

The last known positive cases from the Darwin-Katherine cluster were not in the community after November 4.

"We can not presume the positive wastewater tests in Katherine were from these individuals," Mr Gunner said.

"The length of time between cases in Katherine and the lack of a clear link means there may be seeding in Katherine.

"We've also received an additional positive wastewater result for both catchments on November 13."

Snap lockdown

As a result of the new cases, Katherine will go into a snap, 72-hour lockdown from 6pm (local time).

Robinson River and surrounding homelands will also go into a lockdown, with the same timeframe.

NT Health is currently making contact with each of those homelands and advising people to stay where they are.

Roadblocks will be put in place.

There are five reasons to leave the home, including:

• Medical treatment, including getting a COVID-19 test and getting vaccinated. 
• For essential goods and services like groceries and medicines. 
• For work that is considered essential and can't be done at home. 
• For one hour of exercise a day within five kilometres from your home. This can be done with one other person or people that you live with.
• To provide care to a family member, including separated families during the care of children

Schools will remain open and unvaccinated parents will be able to drop children at the gate.

A mask mandate is already in place and will remain in place and will be strengthened. 

Residents must wear a mask when they leave home and residents are permitted to leave their mask off if they are undertaking vigorous exercise.

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A rapid assessment team of eight people has been dispatched to the Robinson River community.

The team includes both health experts and police as well as additional vaccines.

There is also a team being sent to the nearby community of Borroloola, which is a nearby community of about 1000 people, with a first dose vaccination rate of 77 per cent and full vaccination rate of 60 per cent.

Katherine has a vaccination rate of around 80 per cent, but more remote areas do not have the same level of cover.

"… it's not so much Katherine that we are concerned about in terms of vaccination rates, it's about the potential transmission outside of Katherine through Aboriginal communities, such as Robinson River," Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Pain said.

"Robinson River has a good uptake actually which is a very fortunate thing. There are obviously communities around there which are not."

The vaccine rate for Robinson River is 77 per cent full vaccination and 87 per cent first dose in the community of about 350 people.

"We'll certainly be wanting to test almost everyone in those communities," he said.

"We need very high rates of testing. That is part of our plan, when there is an outbreak in a remote community, you see high rates of testing.

"The teams will be taking large quantities of swabs, but they'll be testing with PCR at this stage."

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Failed communication was at the root of Australia's deadliest coronavirus outbreak at an aged care home in Melbourne's north, a court has heard.

An inquest into what occurred at St Basil's Homes for the Aged in Fawkner in July and August 2020, when 50 of the 117 residents died, began at the Coroner's Court of Victoria today.

The inquest, which heard the cause of the disastrous COVID-19 cluster was failure of communication between state and federal health departments, began with a memorial to the victims.

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Christine Golding's mother Efraxia died of COVID-19 days after she was one of the residents evacuated from the home.

"Mum still had hopes, dreams, she still loved. She still enjoyed life, so that she was denied that, she died prematurely," Ms Golding told 9News outside the court.

The inquest heard there was an eight-day delay between the first positive case at the aged care facility and the testing of other staff.

The Victorian Department of Health was notified when the outbreak began, but commonwealth authorities were not told until days later.

The inquest heard that despite the concerns of doctors Professor Brett Sutton furloughed all St Basil's staff because they were deemed close contacts.

They were replaced with commonwealth agency workers, including some who had never worked in aged care.

Peter Rosen QC told the inquest that during the outbreak positive and negative residents were "mingling freely", bins were overflowing overflowing onto the floor and medication was left on the floor.

A deceased patient was even wheeled out through a busy corridor in front of other residents.

With a lack of information, families outside became desperate.

They banged on windows trying to get into the home and they called police, telling officers their parents were being kept as prisoners.

Ms Golding said she was horrified at what was occurring.

"And sadly my fears came to reality," she said.

Professor Brett Sutton will give evidence at the inquest next week.

Meanwhile, families of those who died during the outbreak have already launched civil action against St Basils.

The court heard today that the home is also being investigated by Worksafe for suspected health and safety breaches.

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