‘Very sad’: Chief Minister on two deaths, as ACT records 28 new cases of COVID

coronavirus,

The ACT has recorded 28 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm Sunday, as two women in their 80s died from COVID-19 overnight. One was a resident of Calvary Haydon receiving end of life care, fully vaccinated. Another woman was admitted to Canberra Hospital on Friday night, where she received palliative care for COVID-19 and other issues. Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was “very sad” to announce the two further deaths from this outbreak on Monday. “This community has responded exceptionally well to the call to get vaccinated and that’s the defence that we have now against the virus,” Mr Barr said. “We’ll work incredibly hard to minimise the number of people who get severely ill with this disease. Part of that is in the hands of individuals in coming forward to get vaccinated though,” he said. “Think about your own health, even if you don’t think about the broader community’s,” he said of people who were holding out on getting vaccinated. There are no further cases linked to Calvary Haydon from the last 24 hours. “Often residents of aged care facilities do tend to be older and often have multiple co-morbidities, or multiple other conditions. I think people should anticipate this is where we are likely to see – unfortunately – deaths moving forward if and when they occur,” Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said. Fourteen of the new cases are linked, 11 of whom are household contacts. The remaining 14 are under early investigation. Eight were in quarantine for their full infectious period, 16 were infectious in the community. Sixteen people are in hospital, with five in ICU and one requiring ventilation, with the youngest person in hospital is in their 20s, the oldest in their 80s. Testing at the weekend was fitting of the territory’s weekend average, with 2700 tests were taken on Sunday. First dose vaccination rate has reached 93.4 per cent of the 12 and over population, 64.6 per cent fully vaccinated. There are 640 people recovered, and currently there are 362 active cases. The Chief Minister said police had not advised any significant breaches as a result of the NRL grand final on Sunday. Speaking on what contact tracing may look like moving forward, the Chief Health Officer monitor and casual sites may drop off. “I think in particular those monitor and casual sites as our focus … switches from trying to find every case to trying to find those ones we know will have a bigger impact,” the Chief Health Officer said. The very near future will feature a more “nuanced consideration” of risk from exposures to health care staff, Dr Coleman said, after several exposures at Canberra Hospital have seen 100 health workers quarantined for periods of five to 14 days. “That’s been an extraordinary 72 hours in NSW politics,” Mr Barr said on the resignation of John Barilaro on Monday. “I hope to have some productive engagement with them once they’ve got their feet under the desks,” he said of Dominic Perottet and new NSW Government leaders. Asked whether he would take a trip to Queanbeyan to leave a bouquet of flowers outside of John Barilaro’s office, the Chief Minister chuckled at the “unexpected” question before responding with, “Unlikely.” “John and I have had our moments over the years, but we have been able to work together to promote some particular important cross-border advancements.” Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman on Sunday said that the ACT was unlikely to see numbers in the teens going forward. “I don’t think that we will get down to below 20, I think that we’re looking at 30s, 40s, 50s at a minimum moving forward.” Though the daily case rate dropped from 52 to 38 on Sunday, Dr Coleman said the spike was still a cause for concern. Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith warned people to take care over the long weekend, the first on which up to two visitors were allowed in households. She reminded Canberrans not to use the public holiday weekend or NRL Grand Final as an excuse to gather together in large groups. “The number of people who have been infectious in the community … is a reminder that we all need to take care. We know from examples interstate, that larger gatherings can … impact multiple households,” she said. “We are also seeing some evidence of transmission at those gathering that are perfectly OK under the health directions. “…The health directions are in place for a reason, and breaking them can endanger yourself, your family and your friends.” MORE COVID-19 NEWS: 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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