The ACT has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases, with 25 new infections recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
It is the highest daily case number in Canberra since 21 October and is 19 more than yesterday’s figure.
The active cases in the Territory has risen to 191 with the total number of coronavirus cases during the outbreak now 1,872.
There remains three people in hospital with the virus and one in the ICU requiring ventilation.
The ACT fully vaccinated rate has climbed to 96.8 per cent for the eligible population.
Rachel Stephen-Smith said a rapid increase in cases was not unexpected as Canberra eased its COVID-19 restrictions.
“It’s too early to say whether this increase is the start of a trend or if it will come back down,” she told reporters in Canberra.
“We expected case numbers would increase as we move around, and gather more as we move towards the Christmas period.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said two new Canberra schools have been listed as exposure sites, taking the total number of affected campuses to 20.
An outbreak at one of the campuses in Canberra’s south has been linked to as many as 57 infections.
The territory government is finalising plans to roll out rapid antigen testing in schools as an extra safeguard for students.
Ms Stephen-Smith said cabinet was meeting on Thursday to discuss the approval of the tests.
An announcement on the rollout is expected to be made on Friday.
There was another day of high testing rates, with 2035 negative tests reported in the past 24 hours.
However, the health minister urged Canberrans not to come forward for testing if they needed a negative test result in order to travel interstate where it was a requirement.
“You’re not able to get tested at ACT facilities if you don’t meet the requirements for testing, which is either you have COVID symptoms, you’re a close contact, or you’re asked to get tested by health authorities,” she said.
With AAP
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