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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Jasper Lindell

Technical issue stalls Saturday's COVID statistics in the ACT

Why do some people continue to test negative for COVID-19 despite exposure? | May 30, 2022 | ACM

A technical issue has prevented ACT health authorities from releasing the number of new COVID infections reported in the ACT.

The figures would be released as soon as the technology issue could be resolved, and staff were working to find a fix at the weekend, an ACT Health spokesman said.

The spokesman told The Canberra Times there were 72 people in hospital with COVID-19 in the latest reporting period, with no people in intensive care.

Hospitalisation figures were not affected by the technical issue preventing the release of case numbers.

The ACT reported 729 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, the most recent available update.

Daily case numbers have remained below 1000 since May 19.

The latest ACT epidemiology report - for the week ending May 29 - showed a decline in weekly case numbers.

There were 5465 new cases recorded in the ACT in the week ending last Sunday, down from 6326 the week prior.

The average caseload over seven days has decreased from between 850 to 950, compared to last week's average of 850 to 950 cases per day.

People in the 25 to 39 year age group continued to be the worst affected by COVID in terms of infection rate, with 26.4 per cent of ACT cases reported in that demographic.

As of last Sunday, 750 people in the ACT had reported testing positive for coronavirus more than once.

Approximately 76 per cent of those people had their first positive test in December 2021 or later, after the Omicron variant was first detected in the ACT.

ACT Health has reported the risk of testing positive for COVID twice will likely increase as immunity wanes from infection and vaccination and as new subvariants emerge.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said the ACT would call for an extension of the national partnership in COVID-19 response, ahead of its expiry in September.

The agreement, signed by all jurisdictions in March 2020, recognised joint responsibility for protecting Australians against poor health outcomes caused by coronavirus.

Mr Barr said the pandemic had caused a backlog for elective surgery and the ACT was seeking a partnership with the Commonwealth to help clear it.

"We recognise across the nation there's a backlog and we're going to need to catch up," he said.

"That's going to require resources and that's something that the Commonwealth and the states and territories can work on."

Speaking to ABC radio on Friday, the Chief Minister said a pathway back to 50-50 health funding between state and territories and the Commonwealth was needed.

"That would be the Commonwealth meeting the states and territories halfway on the biggest funding area - the biggest drain on every state and territory budget - that continues to grow as our population ages," he said.

Coronavirus continues to put strain on health services around the country, with Victoria recording 16 deaths and 8445 cases in the last reporting period. The southern state had 509 in hospital with 29 in ICU.

NSW recorded 18 deaths from COVID and 6594 new cases in the latest 24-hour reporting period, with 1227 in hospital and 28 in ICU.

COVID infections in the capital have remained steady. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong

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.

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