A man in his 80s has died with COVID-19 in the ACT this week, according to the latest report by ACT Health.
ACT Health has published the statistics for the past week, reporting 579 new COVID cases from 4pm on Thursday, October 13 to 4pm on Thursday, October 20.
The latest death brings the total number of fatalities since the pandemic began to 127.
There were 49 people in ACT hospitals, one less than the previous week, and one person in the ICU. No one was being ventilated.
The number of new infections is 78 fewer than the previous week.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the territory has steadily declined since weekly reporting began on September 16.
The total number of cases since the pandemic began in March 2020 has hit 207,517.
Of the new cases, 265 were reported through PCR tests and 314 via rapid tests.
The vaccination rate for people with three doses is at 78.3 per cent while the two-dose rate for children aged five to 15 is at 77.3 per cent. 60.7 per cent of people over 50 have received four COVID-19 vaccinations.
'Continue to come forward for testing'
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said that officials were concerned with monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare system.
She said that while ACT Health was still recording the number of cases in the community, the number of people reporting positive results had started to fall.
Reporting positive rapid tests is only required in the ACT and the Northern Territory.
"We do want to encourage people to continue to come forward for testing. In the ACT you're required to report your positive rapid antigen test results. And that is really important, both for surveillance, but also to ensure that if you are someone who might be eligible for increased support or for treatment with antiviral medication, that we can provide that information to you," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
The health minister said they were considering reintroducing waste-water testing to monitor COVID-19 in the community.
As of last Friday, the mandatory stay-at-home period has been removed for most people who test positive for COVID-19.
However, five-day isolation periods still apply to employees in vulnerable settings such as hospitals and aged care.
Although not mandatory, the official health advice for all workers is still for people to work from home or avoid going to work if they test positive and have symptoms.
Five-day isolation periods still apply to employees in vulnerable settings such as hospitals and aged care.
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