COVID: Australia's Canberra extends lockdown until Sep 17 amid rise in 'unlinked cases'

Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Canberra has extended the lockdown for two weeks as cases continue to rise. The lockdown has been extended until Friday midnight, September 17. Addressing the press briefing, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has informed that extending the lockdown is taken as "unlinked cases" are still being reported in the community.

"We still have unlinked cases in the community, and we still have cases that are infectious in the community. So as a result, our lockdown needs to extend until 11:59pm Friday, September 17", Barr said in the press briefing.

At the press briefing, Andrew Barr said that while the curve is down, it is a "slow process" and would take more time. To control the spread of the virus, he urged the people of Canberra to continue staying at home and asked them to have minimum contact with people outside the household. He informed that schools would continue to have online classes as the lockdown has been extended. He urged people to get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 and following the public safety measures. 

"So, we are asking Canberrans to continue to stay at home and to minimise close contact with others outside of your household to reduce the transmission potential of the virus."

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said this has been a difficult time but assured that decision was not taken lightly. She informed that New South Wales and several clusters surrounding Canberra are vulnerable and high-risk settings. To keep the people safe, they have taken the decision of extending the lockdown. 

"Any ongoing chains of transmission or cases with an unconfirmed source contributes to an increased risk to our community," Coleman told reporters.

"So, Considering this, and in addition to the continuing situation in New South Wales which surrounds us, and several clusters that we have talked about in our vulnerable and high-risk setting, the best decision that I think we can make is to extended the lockdown for another two weeks to help keep the city safe", she added.

According to the new guidelines, outdoor playgrounds, fitness stations, and dog parks can reopen. The amendments will come into effect from 5 pm on September 2. As per new rules, one household of any size, or up to five people from any household, can gather outdoors for exercise or recreation. The maximum number of people who can attend a funeral is 20, which excludes the people necessary to conduct the funeral. The services that operate outdoors and where physical distancing can be maintained, such as outdoor maintenance and gardening and dog grooming services, can reopen. 

COVID-19 situation in ACT

According to ACT Health Department, the Australian capital reported 13 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the overall tally of active cases to 242. Thirty-two people have recovered from coronavirus, while 13 people remain hospitalised. According to ACT Health Department, 65.7 per cent of the people have received the first dose of the vaccine, and 41.9 per cent of people have been inoculated with both doses of vaccine.

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