Page 372 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 22 March 2022
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lifetime. Equity is a core value of this government, and this program is well and truly delivering that.
In addition to our vaccination program, the ACT’s test, trace, isolate and quarantine—TTIQ—policies also continue to play a crucial role in our COVID-19 response. Pressure on our testing system had eased since my last update in February. Over the last month, ACT government testing sites have conducted between 1,281 and 3,689 tests per day, with an average wait time of around 30 minutes to an hour. Over the last week, however, we have seen an increase in demand for our testing clinics, which reflects the increasing case numbers. The demand for testing clinics will be carefully managed and the ACT government will respond accordingly, noting that there is now also an adequate supply of rapid antigen tests—RATs—across the community.
Over recent weeks, it has become much easier for Canberrans to find RATs on the shelves of local pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail outlets. Eligible concession cardholders can access up to 10 free RATs over three months under the national rapid antigen testing concessional access program. In addition, at its meeting on 11 March, national cabinet agreed to extend the concessional access program until 31 July 2022. Over the three-month period, an additional 10 free RATs will be available to eligible concession cardholders.
The ACT government also continues to provide RATs to essential workers within the ACT public service, workers who provide support to vulnerable people and to all ACT schools. With RATs now playing a significant role in our testing system, from 11.59 pm on Friday, 25 February, anyone who tests positive to COVID-19 via a RAT is required to report their result to ACT Health via the online notification form available on the ACT COVID-19 website.
We have seen a strong uptake of RATs in the Canberra community. As of yesterday evening, Canberrans had reported 22,759 positive RAT results since the form to report these results went online. This is approximately 34 per cent of total cases reported in the ACT. A person who tests positive, whether by PCR or RAT, is also required to notify their employer or educational institution of their result, if they attended these places during their infectious period. Persons who test positive for COVID-19 are also encouraged to take reasonable steps to notify any potential high risk or moderate risk contacts.
In recognition of the ACT’s exceptional vaccine coverage, and to bring us in line with other jurisdictions, the ACT government has also amended quarantine requirements for international travellers. From 11.59 pm on 21 February, unvaccinated travellers arriving from overseas are only required to quarantine for a period of seven days. While unvaccinated travellers still need an exemption to undergo their quarantine period in Canberra, vaccinated travellers no longer need to complete an online declaration prior to entering the ACT.
From 11.59 pm on 16 March, the guidance for overseas travellers was also amended to permit travellers to enter high-risk settings and education settings after returning a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of arrival in Australia. Previously, international travellers were restricted from entering these settings for a period of
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