With a lockdown checkpoint looming next week and more unlinked cases being recorded, a delicate juggling act awaits the ACT’s decision makers.
Over the past week, 27 additional unlinked cases have been recorded in the ACT, taking the overall number this outbreak from 50 to 77.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman today acknowledged that the occurrence of cases with an unknown source is “just part of the new strain”.
“We are learning that there will be more cases that we can’t find the source for,” she said. “It’s absolutely one of the pieces of information that we monitor.
“It is the risk for us because any of those could be indicating that there is transmission before that.”
With the public health settings “about one third” of the puzzle regarding COVID-19 transmission, Dr Coleman said tightening restrictions further isn’t the answer as the ACT is “unlikely to get back to zero” COVID-19 cases again.
“I actually don’t see that there is any particular need to go any stronger or harder at this stage because I think we are accepting that we are unlikely to get back to zero again,” she said.
With next week’s lockdown checkpoint presenting “a chance to recalibrate”, Dr Coleman will assess overall vaccination numbers and how much suppression the vaccination coverage is offering when considering what can be done to ease off and give the public more freedom.
“It’s important for people to realise that public health strategies and the actions we are taking cannot in and of itself completely reduce transmission of the delta virus,” she said.
“Our aim now is to stop that rapid escalation of cases that we see when outbreaks start that we really start to get concerned about.
“What we’re actually seeing is a really nice stability and I think our settings are really nice for that.”
Chief Minister Andrew Barr today indicated that next week’s checkpoint and then the lockdown’s scheduled end date in mid-October will be “two very important times” with regard to easing restrictions.
Yesterday he said the plan was to ease restrictions as the ACT and the nation move through the vaccination coverage stages in mid-to-late October and early-to-mid November.
It is expected the adjustments will affect gathering sizes, home visits, and outdoor activity and will be in line with the “cautious and sensible approach” followed by the Chief Minister and Chief Health Officer throughout the entire outbreak.
“The decisions made over the next four to six weeks will go a long way to determining what summer looks like,” Mr Barr said.
“We are talking about degrees of safety; there is nothing safe about COVID.”
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