Chief Minister Michael Gunner reported 940 new cases on Friday, easily the Territory's highest daily total.
Cases from Thursday were also revised up from 626 to 747.
Mr Gunner said the spike in cases was mainly in Darwin as more families returned home from interstate holidays.
"It's not surprising and we can expect that to continue for a few days to a week," he said.
"This doesn't change our overall settings for the Territory, it just means it's more important than ever to stick to the measures that keep us safe."
Mr Gunner said from Monday the interval for the COVID-19 booster would be cut with new deadlines for high-risk and other workers to have boosters also imposed.
Anyone working in a high-risk setting such as a hospital, aged care centre, or in correctional services, must have their booster by March 11 or within four weeks of becoming eligible.
All other workers covered by vaccine mandates will have until April 22 to get boosted.
As well as Friday's increase in new cases, hospitalisations also rose from 95 to 105 with three people in intensive care.
Active infections across the Territory rose to 4200.
16°C