The ACT has recorded 22 new COVID-19 cases overnight, bringing the total number of active cases in the Territory to 67.
All 22 new cases can be linked to existing cases. 63 of the 66 cases can now be linked.
ACT Chief Health Officer (CHO) Dr Kerryn Coleman remarked that all new cases have been linked is “fabulous news”
There remain no hospitalisations due to COVID at this stage.
The current median age of the ACT’s active COVID cases is 19.5 years.
Half the number of cases we have are under 20, with the age range spanning 3 to 62 years.
Dr Coleman said case numbers are reaching a point where an age-group breakdown would be imminent.
“We’re getting up to the numbers where that would be meaningful now,” she said.
An all-time Territory record level of testing was set once again yesterday at 8417 swabs.
Some 25,000 tests have been completed since lockdown commenced six days ago, which is approximately six percent of the ACT’s population.
Flow improvements at EPIC have allowed higher testing rates, and a new southside testing site is set to be announced later today to further improve wait times.
Some Canberrans have been diverted to testing at Queanbeyan’s Seiffert Oval due to demand in the ACT.
Canberrans are reminded to not travel further afield in NSW to jump the testing queues.
“That is not appropriate, not a good idea, and not welcome by NSW Health, who are standing up to support us,” Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
The number of close contact exposure sites has spiked to 190.
There are now 12,500 close contacts in quarantine across Canberra with 10,500 linked to ACT clusters and the remaining 2,000 linked to interstate outbreaks.
Many households being immobilised due to quarantine requirements has put pressure on food delivery, with Woolworths’ home deliveries booked out in Canberra for at least the next week.
The ACT Government is engaging with the major supermarkets to prioritise delivery for those in quarantine, however many small and medium sized grocers remain alternate delivery options too.
More schools join the list of exposure sites
Four of today’s new confirmed cases of COVID-19 are linked to three new school communities. These include:
- UC Lake Ginninderra College;
- Harrison School; and
- St Thomas Aquinas Primary School.
ACT Health is working closely with the Education Directorate and the school principals to communicate with staff and students on these exposure locations and testing arrangements.
This comes in addition to outbreaks detected at Lyneham High and Gold Creek School earlier in the outbreak.
To date, 15 cases have been linked to Lyneham and five to Gold Creek.
A “number” of school principals from northside schools in Gungahlin, the Inner North and Belconnen all attended a session last week at Harrison School on the implementation of remote education.
Minister for Education Yvette Berry today confirmed all the school principals, business managers and education directorate staff in attendance are now at home in quarantine.
The education minister regarded them as a “very low” risk profile for the time being but is awaiting further advice from CHO.
Vaccination efforts continue to be ‘well above national average’
The ACT’s vaccination rates continue to be well above the national average, with 57 percent of eligible Canberrans have received one dose, and one third fully vaccinated.
Efforts are focused on continuing to run vax program “full tilt” with the assistance of Canberra’s GP and pharmacy networks.
More than 81 general practices (GP) administering COVID-19 vaccinations in the ACT with more than 30,000 AstraZeneca (AZ) doses (per week) being supplied across all practices.
25 GPs in the ACT are delivering Pfizer with more than 5,000 doses.
37 community pharmacies delivering COVID vaccinations with more than 5,500 AZ doses. There are no pharmacies delivering Pfizer.
These complement the three Commonwealth vaccination clinics across ACT with delivering 2400 doses a week of AZ, with two of the three clinics doing Pfizer at 840 doses-per-week.
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