ACT records 56th pandemic death; outbreak at jail grows to 27 cases

There are now 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the prison. Photo: File.

A man in his 90s has become the 56th person to die with COVID-19 in the ACT and 987 (397 PCR and 590 RAT) new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the 24 hours to 8 pm yesterday.

It comes as a cluster of infections in Canberra’s jail is confirmed.

As of 2 pm yesterday, 27 detainees in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) had returned a positive COVID-19 result.

A spokesperson for the ACT Government said a detainee first tested positive on Saturday (7 May) and was immediately placed in isolation in line with ACT Health procedures.

Following that initial case, detainee movement between accommodation areas was restricted on Sunday and all detainees in the impacted male area were PCR tested.

Further testing is underway to determine the extent of the spread but the jail is not in full lockdown.

As of 5 May, 78 per cent of detainees in custody had received their first COVID-19 vaccination, 76 per cent had received their second dose and 59 per cent were boosted.

All new arrivals to the AMC are PCR tested on day one and five while they remain in isolation and any detainees who test positive spend 14 days in isolation.

There have been multiple COVID-19 intrusions at the jail since the pandemic began.

Today, there are 73 people in hospital with COVID-19. Five of these people are in ICU and two require ventilation.

Yesterday there were 72 people in hospital and 812 infections were reported.

The new infections take the Territory’s total active caseload to 5749 (2949 PCR and 2800 RAT).

There have been 113,368 (70,125 PCR and 43,243 RAT) infections recorded in the ACT.

The double-dose vaccination rate for the ACT’s five-plus population remains 97.1 per cent and 75.7 per cent of residents aged 16 and older have now received a booster.

Of ACT residents aged five to 11, 66.4 per cent have received two doses of vaccine.

Interstate, NSW has reported 17 deaths overnight and 10,321 new cases of COVID-19.

There are now 1538 people in hospital with the virus and 55 people in ICUs around the state.

Victoria has reported 18 deaths overnight and 12,722 cases of COVID-19.

There are now 519 people hospitalised with the virus, while 34 patients are in the state’s intensive care units.