Canberra’s lockdown has been extended until at least September 17, the Territory’s chief minister announced today.
Canberra has recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases – with seven linked to existing cases and investigations underway into the remaining six.
ACT Health says eight of the new cases were infectious in the community and four were in quarantine for their entire infectious period, while the status of the remaining case is still being investigated.
Canberra’s lockdown had been set to end on Thursday. Chief Minister, Andrew Barr said the extension was necessary to keep the Canberra community safe and stop the spread of the deadly virus.
“The number of cases being notified every day, including where we are unable to identify the source of transmission, means there continues to be an important risk of COVID spreading in the community,” Chief Minister Barr said.
“This is the highly infectious Delta variant and we need to reduce movement of people at this time.”
There was good news for Canberra’s construction industry, with workers being told they can return to job sites from Friday under strict Covid requirements.
New public health orders will also allow residents to exercise outdoors for two hours each day – an increase from the one hour that is currently permitted.
There are currently 13 cases of COVID-19 receiving treatment in hospital – with three of those cases in intensive care units, and one receiving ventilation.
