Page 1582 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 July 2020
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During my last update to this place on 2 July 2020, I advised members of the concerns held by the Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, over the Victorian outbreak. In the intervening period we have all been witness to the rapidly evolving situation in Victoria, and now in New South Wales.
From the outset, let me assure members that our excellent public health experts and healthcare workforce are working tirelessly to protect the community. I will shortly detail some of the steps that the government is taking and measures that have been put in place to strengthen our response.
The situation in Victoria has been concerning and has moved quickly over the last month. Our health officials are also closely monitoring the situation in New South Wales and working with their New South Wales counterparts to understand the outbreak in south-west Sydney and, more recently, the cases associated with Batemans Bay.
What this month has unequivocally demonstrated is that it is more than likely that COVID-19 will continue to impact us for months or even years to come as we see periodic outbreaks in our region and community. It is once again a reminder of just how important it is for us all to play our part in stopping the spread.
Since my last update to the Assembly, we have recorded an additional five cases in the ACT. This means that there have now been 113 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the ACT since the start of the pandemic, with 107 people recovered and, sadly, three deaths. There are currently three active cases in the ACT. All of these people are safely quarantining, and we are confident that these cases pose no broader risk to the ACT community.
Our public health teams quickly established that the recent cases earlier this month were all connected to two initial cases announced on 8 July as two men in their 20s. One of these men returned from a Melbourne hotspot on 2 July and one was a household contact who also tested positive. Three close contacts returned positive results over the next two days, bringing the number of new cases in that week to five.
We provided prompt advice to the community about the specific times these individuals had visited a small number of locations in the ACT. Our testing and operations teams were quick to respond. Contact tracers quickly followed up close contacts of these cases and appropriate actions were put in place to minimise any further risk.
Madam Speaker, on 3 July 2020 I extended the ACT’s public health emergency declaration in response to COVID-19 for a further 45 days from 7 July, effective until 21 August 2020. I took this decision in light of the current situation and based on the advice provided by the Acting Chief Health Officer, Dr Vanessa Johnston. The extension of the public health emergency allows the Chief Health Officer to continue to take any action, or give any direction, deemed necessary to protect the community from the spread of COVID-19. We need to keep public health directions in place at this time to be able to respond quickly and appropriately if there were to be an outbreak of new cases in the ACT.
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