ACT records 17 new COVID cases as Canberra faces four more weeks of lockdown - The Canberra Times

The ACT has recorded 17 new cases of COVID-19 to 8pm Saturday, as the Health Minister reaffirmed that Pfizer doses will not be in short supply in October. Five of the new cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious period, 12 spent some time in the community and six are under investigation. Eleven cases have been linked to previous cases and the remainder have not yet been linked. There are eight people with COVID-19 in hospital in the ACT, two of whom are in intensive care and one requires ventilation. The age of people in hospital ranges from under twelve to in their 70s, while six are unvaccinated, one partially vaccinated, and one fully vaccinated. Chief Minister Andrew Barr made the revelation on Saturday that the ACT was allocated about 60,000 fewer Pfizer vaccines for its October supply. "We have received assurance from the Health Minister Greg Hunt that we should not see a reduction to supply in October, but we are still waiting to get that in writing from them," the ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said. She said it wasn't just the ACT that received lower numbers for October. Ms Stephen-Smith said ACT government reporting of the percentage of the population vaccinated would change from tomorrow, to represent people aged 12 and over. So far, it has been reported as proportion of the population aged over 16. It currently sits at 78.2 per cent first dose, 54.1 per cent fully vaccinated. Today saw NSW ease some restrictions and Ms Stephen-Smith said the territory had already indicated what changes could lie ahead. "The Chief Minister did in fact release that pathway document that sets out some of the changes we expect to see as we leave lockdown," she said. She said people calling ACT's lockdown "the harshest in the country" need to pay attention to measures that were implemented in other states over the course of the pandemic. "I think people may be slightly exaggerating how concrete NSW and Victoria have been to date," she said on their roadmaps out of lockdown the Health Minister said. Community sporting events, capacity limits in hospitality are some of the things to be considered going forward, she said. Ms Stephen-Smith also issued a reminder to people that strict visitation restrictions are in place at residential addresses as well as in hospitals. Asked about the ACT's aims for COVID-zero, Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said: "I think with community expectations around what is required to get back to zero, it may be challenging to get back to zero." "We won't need to do that once we get higher vaccination rates," Dr Coleman said, but she did not give an exact percentage at which the ACT would implement that. "That is one of the things we're looking at in terms of our pathway forward." There are 618 total cases associated with this outbreak, and a total of 376 recovered cases, twelve more than yesterday. There are currently 242 active cases, over 800 self-identified close contacts, and more than 300 active exposure locations. READ MORE COVID-19 NEWS: Tomorrow 12-15 year-olds can access Pfizer through ACT government clinics. There are about 25,000 people young people in this age group in the ACT. Ms Stephen-Smith said appointments won't open until mid-October, so parents may be able to get their children vaccinated faster through GPs and pharmacies. "We've set aside bookings at the AIS mass vaccination clinic for year 12s, we will do year 11s as they come back as well," she said. "Then the question is: What does our supply look like to get those 12-15 year-olds vaccinated?" She said vaccines are one of the elements being considered in the territory's plans for kids returning to face-to-face schools. "As we identify exposure sites, the more we're seeing exposure sites identified as casual contact sites rather than close contacts, that's a good thing," the Health Minister said. A trend in less public sites of transmission and less transmission at these sites is also a good thing. Meanwhile, a new COVID-19 case has been identified in Goulburn while Yass recorded three new cases. The Southern NSW Local Health District also identified three Batemans Bay cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. The cases in Goulburn and Yass are close contacts of existing cases. There have now been 69 cases recorded in the Southern NSW Local Health District in this outbreak. Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

The ACT has recorded 17 new cases of COVID-19 to 8pm Saturday, as the Health Minister reaffirmed that Pfizer doses will not be in short supply in October.

Five of the new cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious period, 12 spent some time in the community and six are under investigation.

Eleven cases have been linked to previous cases and the remainder have not yet been linked.

There are eight people with COVID-19 in hospital in the ACT, two of whom are in intensive care and one requires ventilation.

The age of people in hospital ranges from under twelve to in their 70s, while six are unvaccinated, one partially vaccinated, and one fully vaccinated.

"We have received assurance from the Health Minister Greg Hunt that we should not see a reduction to supply in October, but we are still waiting to get that in writing from them," the ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.

She said it wasn't just the ACT that received lower numbers for October.

Ms Stephen-Smith said ACT government reporting of the percentage of the population vaccinated would change from tomorrow, to represent people aged 12 and over.

So far, it has been reported as proportion of the population aged over 16.

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stehpen-Smith. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

It currently sits at 78.2 per cent first dose, 54.1 per cent fully vaccinated.

Today saw NSW ease some restrictions and Ms Stephen-Smith said the territory had already indicated what changes could lie ahead.

"The Chief Minister did in fact release that pathway document that sets out some of the changes we expect to see as we leave lockdown," she said.

She said people calling ACT's lockdown "the harshest in the country" need to pay attention to measures that were implemented in other states over the course of the pandemic.

"I think people may be slightly exaggerating how concrete NSW and Victoria have been to date," she said on their roadmaps out of lockdown the Health Minister said.

Community sporting events, capacity limits in hospitality are some of the things to be considered going forward, she said.

Ms Stephen-Smith also issued a reminder to people that strict visitation restrictions are in place at residential addresses as well as in hospitals.

Asked about the ACT's aims for COVID-zero, Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said: "I think with community expectations around what is required to get back to zero, it may be challenging to get back to zero."

"We won't need to do that once we get higher vaccination rates," Dr Coleman said, but she did not give an exact percentage at which the ACT would implement that.

"That is one of the things we're looking at in terms of our pathway forward."

There are 618 total cases associated with this outbreak, and a total of 376 recovered cases, twelve more than yesterday.

There are currently 242 active cases, over 800 self-identified close contacts, and more than 300 active exposure locations.

Ms Stephen-Smith said appointments won't open until mid-October, so parents may be able to get their children vaccinated faster through GPs and pharmacies.

"We've set aside bookings at the AIS mass vaccination clinic for year 12s, we will do year 11s as they come back as well," she said.

"Then the question is: What does our supply look like to get those 12-15 year-olds vaccinated?"

She said vaccines are one of the elements being considered in the territory's plans for kids returning to face-to-face schools.

"As we identify exposure sites, the more we're seeing exposure sites identified as casual contact sites rather than close contacts, that's a good thing," the Health Minister said.

A trend in less public sites of transmission and less transmission at these sites is also a good thing.

Meanwhile, a new COVID-19 case has been identified in Goulburn while Yass recorded three new cases.

The Southern NSW Local Health District also identified three Batemans Bay cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The cases in Goulburn and Yass are close contacts of existing cases.

There have now been 69 cases recorded in the Southern NSW Local Health District in this outbreak.

Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

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2021-09-19 03:45:20Z
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