A man in his 80s has died with COVID in the ACT, taking the number of lives lost in Canberra since the pandemic started in March 2020 to 109.
Today marked 12 months since the ACT went into a snap lockdown when the first case was discovered in more than a year.
On August 12, 2021, Canberrans learnt they would enter a seven-day lockdown after a young man tested positive for coronavirus.
A year on, daily case numbers are falling after a winter high, with an average of 500 this week compared to around 600 or 700 a week ago.
On the latest figures, there were 2923 active cases on Thursday, with 135 in hospital. Of those in hospital, four were in intensive care, including two on a ventilator.
Of the 474 new cases, 248 were detected by the PCR test and 226 by the rapid test. Since March, 2020, there have been 197,561 cases detected in the ACT.
Call to stop daily COVID case numbers
The ACT's chief health officer would like to soon stop reporting daily COVID-19 case numbers in a further sign of optimism the pandemic is winding down.
Dr Kerryn Coleman said she expected COVID would continue to be a challenge and there would be more waves. Authorities were focused on protecting the most vulnerable.
The latest COVID-19 wave in the ACT has likely passed its peak and experts have suggested people will be better protected against further waves due to increased immunity from both infections and vaccines.
Dr Coleman spoke to The Canberra Times on the one-year anniversary of the ACT being plunged into lockdown after recording the first positive Delta COVID case.
State of emergency extended
On Monday, the state of emergency was extended in the ACT, with the government renewing the Public Health Emergency Declaration until September 30.
Health authorities said the decision allowed chief health officer Kerryn Coleman to continue taking all necessary measures to reduce COVIDs threat to public health.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said community transmission still posed a risk, particularly to people at risk of severe outcomes, including older Canberrans and people with underlying health conditions.
She said that the situation should ease when winter was over.
Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT 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.
