More than 500 people have contracted COVID-19 in the ACT while more than 100 have been admitted to hospital.
There were 163 people with COVID-19 in hospital in the 24 hours to 8pm.
Of those, one patient is in the ICU. None are on ventilation.
The ACT recorded 556 new COVID-19 cases over the 24 hour reporting period.
Of the new cases, 133 were aged between 25 and 39 and made up the largest cohort of infections.
There are now 5252 known active cases of COVID-19 in the territory.
It follows the deaths of two men in their 80s, who were reported on Saturday as having died with COVID-19.
Authorities should take as much care with the air as they do with their water to help combat the latest surge in COVID-19 cases and future waves, a leading epidemiologist has said.
Adrian Esterman, who holds the chair in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Australia, said better ventilation and better vaccines would be vital to fighting the virus over the long term.
Despite high numbers of active cases across the country, he questioned how many public buildings, offices, factories and retail settings had conducted ventilation audits and taken steps to improve their air conditioning.
"It's the key. We wouldn't start drinking contaminated water, yet we seem quite happy to breathe contaminated air," Professor Esterman told a South Australian parliamentary committee.
"This is an airborne disease. Over 98 per cent of infections are airborne, probably even more than that. If it's an airborne disease, why aren't we looking after our air?"
Professor Esterman said there needed to be a nationally consistent approach to COVID-19, including consistent definitions of an infection and contact tracing techniques.
ACT Health authorities this week revealed they were unsure which way the COVID wave will go in the ACT, in an uncertain time where experts have predicted cases could fall while government modelling showed a peak was still to come.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government was ramping up its campaign to encourage members of the public to wear face masks and stressed COVID-safe behaviours - including physical distancing, testing when symptomatic and mask wearing - remained very important amid significant community transmission.
Epidemiologists earlier told The Canberra Times they thought the latest COVID-19 wave in the ACT - driven by the highly infectious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants - had peaked and would begin to fall.
with Jasper Lindell, AAP
556 new cases by age group
- 0-4 years: 27
- 5-11 years: 59
- 12-17 years: 36
- 18-24 years: 56
- 25-39 years: 133
- 40-49 years: 93
- 50-64 years: 93
- 65+ years: 59
- Total: 556
The ACT's COVID-19 death toll is 92.
According to ACT figures, 77.5 per cent of people aged over 16 have received a third booster dose, while 48.5 per cent of people aged over 50 have received a fourth booster.
On child vaccination rates, 77.8 per cent of kids between five and 15 have been jabbed with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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