In August, Ken Behrens went into lockdown once more. We learnt how to get our groceries delivered from local businesses, became acquainted with homegrown internet sensations, and were told to get comfortable for a “snap two-week lockdown” that would last nine weeks, until the end of spring.
Shoalhaven, Southern Highlands locked out of ACT
In early August, ACT closed its borders to Shoalhaven and the Southern Highlands after fragments of COVID-19 were found in wastewater at Wollongong and Bomaderry. An early harbinger of the ACT lockdown to come, ACT Health warned us that the unfolding situation in regional NSW was serious, and restrictions could be imposed for other areas at short notice.
Your guide to Canberra grocery delivery during lockdown
When major supermarket chains reported up to a week’s delay on local deliveries, ACT’s small local grocers readily took up the mantle. Eateries like Red Baron in Symonston and As Nature Intended in Fyshwick opened up their pantries to the public, and homegrown grocers all over the ACT offered local delivery to the thousands of households in quarantine.
Belconnen shooter on the loose, man wounded
On Wednesday 18 August, a man was hospitalised after taking a single gunshot wound to the leg, following a shooting in an underground carpark of a Belconnen hotel. At 9.30am, police were called to the scene, where dozens of uniformed personnel, heavily armed tactical officers, sniffer dogs and plain clothes detectives remained for hours searching for the shooter. The 56-year-old victim was transported by ambulance to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Meet Canberra YouTube star Susie J Todd
In lighter news, a born-and-raised Canberra makeup artist made her magazine cover debut after taking the internet by storm, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide for her honest takes on viral “fitness trends”. Susie J Todd became a figurehead of the “midsize movement,” growing in popularity for her warm, down to earth commentary. A Canberra girl through and through!
ACT to remain in some form of lockdown until ‘end of spring’
On Thursday 26 August, Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced that the ACT will gently stroll out of lockdown under “very careful” management over a “difficult” spring. At this time, some 60 per cent of Canberrans aged 12 years and over were unvaccinated. “Until our community is vaccinated, we cannot return to normal,” Mr Barr said. Well done Canberra, we’ve come a long way. By 23 December, 98.4% of ACT residents aged 12 and over were double vaccinated.
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