Seventy per cent of Canberrans aged 12 and up are now fully vaccinated, with the ACT the first jurisdiction in Australia to reach the milestone.
With 97.8 per cent of eligible ACT residents having received one dose, the total number of jabs administered at ACT Government Clinics now stands at 353,517. More doses have been administered via GPs and pharmacies.
The vaccination achievement comes as the ACT recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday, with 25 linked to existing cases or ongoing clusters.
Nineteen of the linked cases are household contacts.
Eleven cases were in quarantine during their whole infectious period while nine spent some time in the community while infectious.
Six cases remain under investigation as to their time spent in the community.
The 32 new cases recorded brings the ACT’s total number of cases associated with this outbreak to 1,234.
The total number of recovered cases now stands at 773 with an additional 10 added overnight. There are 455 active cases in the ACT.
As at 8pm yesterday there were 18 patients in ACT hospitals with or due to COVID-19. Seven are in intensive care, six requiring ventilation.
Special care nursery cluster
The cluster which was first reported at a special care nursery at Canberra’s Centenary Hospital for Women and Children on 6 October now numbers seven in total, ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen Smith told reporters this morning. This includes two babies who are being treated in a paediatric COVID ward at the hospital and are both in a stable condition.
There are seven babies considered close contacts, who are in quarantine, and another four babies deemed as casual contacts.
No parents are allowed to visit the close contact babies while they are in quarantine.
For the babies deemed casual contacts, their parents will be able to visit once the babies return negative test results.
The hospital has taken steps to allow delivery of breast milk from the babies’ mothers and video streaming has been set up so parents can see their babies remotely.
There are currently over 380 current exposure locations across the ACT; click here for an up-to-date list.
The ACT’s formal lockdown will end Friday 15 October, with a number of freedoms to be restored including dine-in eating, gyms, and hairdressers, beauty and professional services all recommencing.
A further easing will then take place come 29 October that will see retailers reopen their doors and a further relaxing of gathering sizes and density limits.
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