The ACT has recorded 12 new cases overnight, but won’t follow the footsteps of some states in abandoning COVID-zero.
While Canberra remains at “extreme risk” from NSW, Chief Minister Andrew Barr doesn’t think COVID-zero is out of reach for the nation’s capital.
“If we continue on this trajectory, then we would be able to contain this outbreak and get to the point where we have no infectious cases in the community,” he told reporters on Thursday.
The territory has become Australia’s first jurisdiction to cross the 80 per cent full vaccination mark for one age group – people aged between 75 and 79.
Overall, about 44 per cent of territory residents aged 16 and older are double-dosed, with 68 having received a single shot.
It comes as the Victorian government joins NSW in abandoning the goal of eliminating the Delta strain in the community.
Mr Barr backed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s call for more research about what reopening state borders and lifting restrictions would mean for children younger than 12.
Pfizer has only been approved for children over that age.
Mr Barr said he was concerned about the risks of leaving many children unvaccinated.
However, the federal government has advice the risk of serious illness in children is small, with three out of 3815 being admitted to intensive care this year, and the best way to address it is the “cocooning” effect of parents getting vaccinated.
The chief minister also criticised “alpha male aggressive posturing” he said glossed over the nuance of national vaccination targets of between 70 and 80 per cent.
Canberra’s lockdown, extended until midnight on September 17, was aimed at buying as many people as possible time to get the jab.
Six of the ACT’s new cases are linked to existing clusters or close contacts, and the remaining six are under investigation.
Of the 12 new cases, at least four were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. The remaining eight were in the community for at least part of their infectious period.
Thirteen patients are now in hospital with or due to COVID-19, with four in intensive care and two requiring ventilation. Twelve are unvaccinated with one person having received one dose. The new individual requiring ventilation in ICU is an unvaccinated man in his 20s with no pre-existing health conditions.
The youngest individual hospitalised is 18 years of age, the oldest 54.
Total number of cases associated with this outbreak in the ACT is now at 309. A total of 51 cases have fully recovered, 10 more than yesterday, meaning there are now 258 current active cases.
The reproduction rate for the virus in Canberra is under one. This means each positive case will pass the virus on to less than one other person.
A total of 2,500 tests were conducted yesterday.
“This is just not high enough,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said. “The virus is out in our community.”
There are now 220 current exposure locations, with over 580 locations having made the list since this outbreak began.
There continues to be 12 recorded sites of public transmission.
The total number of cases associated with each site changes as ACT Health continues to confirm and reclassify links to each site.
As of today:
- 37 cases have been linked to Bright Bee’s Early Learning Centre, Nicholls;
- Three to Ainslie Village;
- Five to CIT Reid;
- Two to Gold Creek School;
- 13 to Downer Community Centre;
- 51 to Fiction Nightclub;
- Seven to Assembly pub;
- 20 to Lennock Jaguar and Land Rover;
- 50 to Lyneham High;
- Seven to Belconnen Basketball Centre;
- 44 to Southern Cross Basketball Centre; and
- Seven to Mirchi Indian Restaurant, Ngunnawal.
Yesterday 110 traffic stops were conducted by ACT Policing, with only one direction required to leave the ACT.
“It seems the message is starting to get through,” Mr Barr said.
68 percent of Canberrans aged 16 up have had their first dose, with 44.5 percent now fully vaccinated.
The ACT achieved an Australian-first milestone today on the vaccination front, with ACT residents 75-79-years-old becoming the first cohort in Australia to reach 80 per cent fully vaccinated.
Yesterday 16,210 Canberrans aged 16-29 booked their vaccination at an ACT Government-led clinic.
Mr Barr said those jabs are “unlikely” to be administered until October. Given the time between doses and then for the efficacy to kick in, people in that age group still face two-to-three months without “vaccine protection”.
With AAP
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
For more local COVID-19 news:
