From 11:59pm on Friday 13 May, Check In CBR will no longer be mandatory in the ACT.
However, high-risk facilities will soon be able to use an upgraded version as a health screening tool.
Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health, said licensed venues, registered clubs, night clubs, strip clubs, brothels and non-ticketed events will no longer need to use the Check In CBR app for mandatory check-in purposes.
Automatic notifications to members of the public who have visited these places during a COVID-19 exposure will also cease.
“ACT businesses and the community really embraced Check In CBR as part of daily life, and this contributed enormously to the ACT’s contact tracing efforts,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“However, the Territory’s COVID-19 response has evolved over recent months, and contact tracing is no longer a key component. It is therefore appropriate that check-in requirements can now be removed.”
Check In CBR has new features
The Check In CBR app now includes a new health screening tool for high-risk facilities to use, and a direct link to the online form to record positive RAT results.
“We’re encouraging Canberrans to keep the Check In CBR app on their phones, and make use of these new features when they need them,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
The health screening tool will allow high-risk facilities – hospitals, residential aged care facilities, disability services, and correctional facilities – that often have separate screening and check-in methods to use one tool to screen and automatically check-in visitors.
“The screening tool is consistent across facilities, easy to use, and takes advantage of Canberrans’ familiarity with the Check In CBR app,” Ms Stephen Smith said.
This tool will be available for voluntary use by high-risk facilities that screen the health of staff, consumers, and visitors. ACT Health will securely store the data, and delete it after 28 days, like other Check In CBR data.
The new health screening tool will be available for use from 20 May. Any organisation wishing to use this tool must apply for a new QR code that will automatically launch the new screening function when someone checks in using the app.
Three more months of Public Health Emergency Declaration
The Public Health Emergency Declaration has been extended for 90 days to allow the Chief Health Officer to reduce the threats to public health from COVID-19, as winter approaches.
“The ACT continues to experience around 1,000 COVID-19 cases a day,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “This level of community transmission still poses a risk to more vulnerable community members, including older Canberrans and people with some underlying health conditions.
“We anticipate that the upcoming winter will bring additional challenges, as people spend more time indoors, and the health care system deals with both COVID and influenza in the community.
“It is therefore vital that the ACT Government has the ability to respond quickly, should this be required over the coming months – for example, if a new variant presents additional risk.”
The declaration will be reviewed every 30 days, and the ACT Legislative Assembly will debate the step-down measures in the Public Health Amendment Bill in June.
