The ACT will overhaul its COVID-19 contact definition and isolation requirements as case numbers remain high but hospitalisations steady.

Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman announced changes to the ACT’s test, trace, isolate and quarantine regime as Omicron infections surge.

Contacts will now be reclassified as either high, medium or low risk.

Positive cases will still need to undergo seven days of quarantine, with household contacts also requiring a PCR test.

Positive cases will also need to notify household contacts and people they have seen socially within the two days prior to becoming symptomatic or testing positive.

High-risk contacts – those who have spent a considerable amount of time at home with a positive case – will still need to undergo quarantine.

A medium risk contact – someone who has been with a positive case at a place such as a restaurant or bar for a few hours will need to have a rapid test plus another one six days after.

A low-risk contact – someone who has only spent a short amount of time with a positive case – will only need to monitor for symptoms.

But discretion has been left up to Canberrans with grey areas between risk thresholds. 

“I encourage everyone to consider and make that assessment for themselves,” Dr Coleman said when asked about the difference between high and medium-level exposure.

“There is no right or wrong answer here.”

High risk exposure includes household-like contact such as spending the night at someone’s house, while medium risk encompasses spending a few hours with the person in an enclosed setting. 

There were 810 new COVID cases reported in the ACT on Wednesday, a slight decrease from the record 926 infections the day before.

Hospitalisations increased to 16, with just one patient in intensive care and on ventilation.

By Dominic Giannini and Andrew Brown in Canberra

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