Canberra has recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday, as the Territory passed the milestone of getting more that 70 per cent of people aged over 16 vaccinated with a single dose.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT is getting close to 50 per cent of the population aged 16 and above being fully vaccinated with two doses.
“On current trends we will cross that threshold in about a week,” Mr Barr told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
The ACT has passed the 70 per cent mark for the first dose vaccination rates amongst people aged 16 years and above.
Over 80 per cent of Canberrans aged 75 and over are now fully vaccinated.
The 15 cases reported on Sunday was less than half the record amount of 32 reported for the previous 24 hours.
Thirteen of the new infections were linked to previously-known cases.
Six were in quarantine during their entire infectious period, seven spent part of their infectious period in the community, and two remain under investigation.
“In good news we have seen a reduction in the number of people requiring urgent medical care,” Mr Barr said.
Nine people are in hospital and one person remains in intensive care.
Despite the positive news, Mr Barr said there is no intent to ease restrictions at this point in time.
“We obviously have checkpoints but the settings that are in place, they are likely to remain so people should work on that basis,” he said.
“We will signal in advance of when we will next update so people have a bit of notice.”
At this stage the ACT remains in lockdown until September 17.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pledged there will be no state-wide lockdowns once her state reaches the 80 per cent double-doses vaccinations, and only relying on targeted restriction.
But Mr Barr said this was not something he could promise as localised restrictions would likely be unworkable.
“We’re probably too small,” he said.
Mr Barr again urged people to get tested.
“It is critical if you have any symptoms that you come forward for testing immediately,” he said.
“Every day you wait an see if it might just be a cold and you delay getting tested, that is a risk to you, your family and the broader community.”
ACT Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman said about one-in-three cases in the Territory have waited for two days before getting tested after their symptoms have appeared.
In the past 24 hours, 17 cases have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 137.
The number of active cases in the ACT currently sits at 237, with the total for this outbreak at 374.
A total of 2,508 tests were conducted yesterday with Mr Barr encouraging anyone with symptoms to get tested.
With AAP
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