Chief Minister Andrew Barr at the AIS Arena Mass Vaccination Clinic, which will now accept walk-ups. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
UPDATED 3 pm: The ACT is tracking to have more than 90 per cent of its eligible population aged over 12 receive their second COVID-19 vaccine by the end of October, making it one of the most vaccinated places in the world.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said that the ACT would soon reach 99 per cent for first doses and that the second dose figure should match this by early November.
Driving this vaccination push over coming weeks will be changes to make the vaccines more accessible, including walk-up appointments at the AIS Arena Mass Vaccination Clinic and pop-up testing in selected postcodes to reach people in vulnerable settings who may not be able to travel.
Immuno-compromised people will also be able to get a third dose of Pfizer vaccine from their GP.
Mr Barr said vaccination was now doing the heavy lifting, and the Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine (TTIQ) effort would begin to phase down, and those settings would be updated this week.
“This is just so critical to our economic recovery, to protect our health system and to ensure that Canberrans can emerge from lockdown and the gentle steps that we take over the coming two to four weeks to get back into a more normal life,” he said.
Tomorrow, the ACT Government will provide details of the next step in its Pathway to be implemented on Friday.
On Wednesday and Thursday, it should be able to update cross-border travel rules in coordination with the NSW Government.
But Mr Barr said the current rules would not change dramatically on Friday.
He said the number of postcodes within the Canberra region with exemptions would increase and they would remain the arrangements for the last two weeks of October.
“Beyond the point NSW reaches 80 per cent double dose, they’ve indicated changes, for example, to allow Greater Sydney [residents] to travel into the regions. That will be a trigger point at which the ACT residents would be allowed to travel further into the regions.”
But Mr Barr warned that NSW had said any Canberran caught in Queanbeyan over the next few days would face heavy fines and no one from across the border should come into the ACT for non-essential reasons.
“Today is not an opportunity for ACT residents to cross into NSW for non-essential reasons,” he said.
“Travel will change on Friday, and change again at the end of October and then, in December when NSW drop their vaccinated and unvaccinated status, travel will free up significantly.”
While the number of cases was becoming less important, Mr Barr said the government still wanted to keep them as low as possible.
“The disease is going to become endemic in our community,” he said.
“There will be hundreds and hundreds of cases, but the vaccines will prevent serious illness, and you’ve just got to see what’s happening in NSW and Victoria to know that there aren’t any people in intensive care who are fully vaccinated, there aren’t many people even in hospital who are fully vaccinated,” he said.
“But you can have a breakthrough infection where fully vaccinated people can still get the virus, and carry it with them for days and days, and transmit to others, and they may not even know they’ve got the virus.”
There would still be a need for public health measures and TTIQ arrangements as vaccination rates rise.
“That’s why we’re not having freedom day today. That’s why it will be a gentle step forward on Friday and then another one two weeks after that,” he said.
Mr Barr said the ACT’s vaccination performance showed that Australia should have been much more ambitious with its program.
“I have always viewed 80 per cent as a floor not a ceiling, and I think we have demonstrated that it should always have been a floor,” he said.
Mr Barr said no one had modelled rates of 90 to 95 per cent, and when the ACT argued for more vaccines, the Federal Government did not think it could be done.
“This is a significant achievement,” he said.
COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. Photo: Karyn Starmer.
UPDATED 11:30 am: The ACT has recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8 pm yesterday.
Twenty-five cases are linked to known cases or ongoing clusters, 19 are household contacts.
Eleven of the new cases were in quarantine during their whole infectious period but nine spent some time in the community while infectious and may present a risk of transmission to others. Six cases remain under investigation.
This brings the total number of cases for this outbreak to 1,234 including 455 active cases. There are 18 patients in ACT hospitals, including seven in intensive care, six of whom require ventilation.
More than 3,275 tests were collected across the ACT yesterday, from both government and private providers and more than 1,600 people have self-identified as close contacts of ACT outbreaks. There are more than 380 current exposure locations listed on the ACT COVID-19 website.
ACT Health authorities say that the ACT has reached the significant milestone of 70 per cent full vaccination across all eligible people over 12 years, the first jurisdiction in Australia to reach this benchmark. ACT Government Clinics have administered 353,517 doses of vaccine.
“We are the first jurisdiction in Australia to reach this rate of vaccination coverage and we couldn’t be prouder of our community”, a statement said this morning.
“Thank you to everyone who has been vaccinated or is booked in to be vaccinated in the coming weeks.
“If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, there are appointments available. More information on vaccine eligibility and where you can get vaccinated is on the ACT COVID-19 website.”
There were 30 cases of COVID-19 in the ACT yesterday.
NSW has recorded 496 cases and eight deaths today. Yesterday there were 477 cases and six deaths.
There are currently 769 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 153 people in intensive care.
Victoria recorded 1612 cases and eight deaths. Yesterday there were 1890 new coronavirus cases and five deaths
10:15 am: A new taskforce will help the ACT’s restaurants and cafes move to outdoor dining when the COVID-19 lockdown ends on Friday.
The ACT Government’s Outdoor Activation Taskforce has been created to support restaurants, cafes and other businesses to use public outdoor spaces near their premises in line with public health directions as restrictions ease.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the taskforce would support business owners to temporarily shift some of their business activities outdoors, if possible, where the risk of COVID-19 transmission is much lower.
“We know this has been a challenging time for everyone and the ACT Government will be taking a range of practical steps to assist with a COVID-safe economic recovery,” he said.
“As we move out of lockdown, Canberrans will be keen to support local businesses, and this will be a key driver of our economic recovery into Christmas and throughout 2022.”
Business and Better Regulation Minister Tara Cheyne said the taskforce would look to make the most of the opportunities that outdoor spaces offer for businesses.
“The new taskforce will look for innovative ways to open up outdoor public space for venues so that we can continue to help businesses safely return to hosting customers,” Ms Cheyne said.
“We welcome businesses’ ideas on how to make the most of outdoor public spaces in ways that support their business, and we will work with them on making those ideas a reality.”
Since last year, over 55 businesses have taken advantage of outdoor dining permit waivers, introduced as a COVID-19 recovery measure in 2020. These fee waivers extend through to March 2022.
Ms Cheyne said venues would have capacity limits after lockdown ends, so moving to an outdoors setting was the safest and easiest way for businesses like restaurants, cafes and bars to operate sooner as restrictions gradually ease.
“In preparation for any initiatives the taskforce introduces in the coming weeks, we are encouraging all interested businesses to register with the taskforce and bring forward their ideas on what might be possible so we can capitalise on these quickly,” she said.
To learn more and apply, visit the Access Canberra website.
Majura Park supermarkets and a city shoe store are among casual contact exposure locations listed this morning on the ACT COVID website.
Costco and Aldi are both named for last Thursday, 7 October – Costco from 7:55 pm to 8:30 pm and Aldi from 7:20 pm to 8:25 pm.
Woolworths at Erindale is listed three times as an exposure site – on Sunday, 3 October (9:50 am to 6:30 pm), Monday, 4 October (6 am to 11:40 am) and Wednesday, 6 October (5 am to 3:15 pm).
Billini Shoes in the Canberra Centre was an exposure location on Wednesday, 6 October, and Tuesday, 5 October, from 9 am to 5:30 pm.
Two medical practices have been named: Ochre Health Medical Centre in Greenway on Tuesday, 5 October from 4:45 pm to 5:30 pm, and Family First General Practice in Franklin last Tuesday from 3:40 pm to 5:30 pm.
Bus Route 44 between the Belconnen Interchange and Kippax Interchange is named for inbound (9:20 am to 9:49 am) and outbound (8:25 am to 8:55 am) journeys on Wednesday, 6 October.
Check the COVID website for full details.
ACT Health is running a pop-up COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine clinic for anyone aged 12 years and over at Kippax Library in Holt from today until Thursday from 9 am to 3:30 pm.
The clinic is accepting walk-ins, but would prefer people to register at Eventbrite to help manage the space.
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