An update to this story was posted on 7 May.
Canberrans are being urged to get tested if they are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, as the ACT records no new cases in the past 24 hours following a confirmed case yesterday.
ACT’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, acknowledged community concern about the additional case that was confirmed yesterday; however, she said ACT Health is confident there is no risk to the broader community.
“The female individual returned to Australia more than a month ago and undertook her mandatory two-week self-quarantine. ACT Health investigations show that she acquired the virus overseas,” Dr Coleman said.
“The two-week quarantine period is in place because the research shows us this is the likely maximum incubation period for the virus, allowing us to identify anyone may develop symptoms during this time.
“Our extensive investigation shows that the individual was most likely to be infectious with COVID-19 while overseas. ACT Health is confident that she would not have been infectious by the time she completed her quarantine in Australia.
“Her ‘low positive’ test result, in addition to information obtained during the investigation, strongly indicates to us that this individual is shedding low levels of dead viral fragments and she is not currently infectious.”
Dr Coleman said “the ACT is still in a great position and we want to use this advantage to do more testing of people with symptoms”.
“This will give us the best view of COVID-19 in the community and provide us with the data we need to move forward,” she said.
“I am again asking everyone who is showing symptoms, or believes they may have symptoms, to get tested as soon as possible.”
Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath, with more information available via this ACT Health factsheet.
The update from the ACT Government today (Tuesday 5 May) shows no new cases in the past 24 hours, with the total number of cases remaining at 107. The number of negative tests is now 9,722, with no COVID-19 patients in Canberra hospitals. The death toll remains at three.
For more information, visit the ACT Government’s COVID-19 website.
