ACT’s coronavirus outbreak grows to 28 cases as health minister warns more infections expected

The ACT records another 19 cases of coronavirus as lockdown for nation’s capital is extended for another TWO WEEKS

• The ACT has recorded 19 new Covid cases, bringing the capital’s outbreak to 28
• Officials have announced Canberra’s lockdown will be extended by two weeks
• Cases are expected to rise as Lyneham High School became an exposure site
• Hundreds of students and their households have been plunged into isolation 

By Tita Smith For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press

Published: 02:34 BST, 16 August 2021 | Updated: 03:23 BST, 16 August 2021

Hundreds of Canberrans have been plunged into self isolation after the ACT recorded 19 new Covid cases as the territory’s lockdown is extended for another two weeks. 

The coronavirus outbreak in the nation’s capital has swelled to 28 after more than a dozen new cases, including a high school student and worker at a Tuggeranong aged care centre, were reported on Monday. 

In light of the worrying figures, the ACT government has announced Canberra’s seven-day lockdown – which was scheduled to end on Thursday – has been extended until September 2. 

‘As today’s figures demonstrate, the virus is active in our community,’ Chief Minister Andrew Barr told reporters on Monday.

The ACT has recorded ten new Covid cases as residents are warned to expect more infections in coming days. Pictured: Canberra residents queue to get tested for Covid at screening clinics on Friday 

‘This is a serious situation.

‘We do not want to see the numbers continue to grow and we do not want to see exponential growth.’

Officials case numbers were expected to rise on Monday after Lyneham High School in the city’s inner north joins the ACT’s list of exposure sites.

A student attended the school between Monday and Thursday last week before testing positive, taking the territory’s case numbers to 28.

Lyneham High School (pictured) in the Canberra’s inner north has become a Covid exposure site after a student tested positive 

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith warned people to expect additional cases.

‘We’re likely to see new cases. We’ve had a lot of testing being done,’ she told ABC radio.

Staff and students who attended the high school between Monday and Thursday last week, as well as their households, must quarantine for 14 days.

The ACT’s list of exposure sites numbers more than 70.

It includes Gold Creek School, Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School and the rehearsal room of University of Canberra High School Kaleen.

The Greenway Views village is in lockdown after a worker did three shifts while infectious.

It’s the ACT’s first confirmed case in a retirement village.

ACT authorities are racing to control the spread of the highly infectious Delta strain, which has been linked to the unravelling outbreak in Sydney. 

Canberra’s seven-day lockdown has been extended for another two weeks as Covid cases in the capital continue to rise 

Ms Stephen-Smith said she was concerned by the escalating number of contacts linked to positive cases. 

‘We have got thousands and thousands of contacts identified, and so I think this is a very serious situation,’ she said.

A man in his 20s, with no obvious links to other cases, was one of two new cases reported on Sunday.

The other was linked to a nightclub in the city.

The ACT is expected to soon receive an additional 14,000 Pfizer doses.

So far, 30.3 per cent of ACT residents aged over 16 are fully vaccinated with 54 per cent having received one dose.

The ACT has recorded ten new Covid cases as residents are warned to expect more infections in coming days. Pictured: Longlines at Weston Creek Community Centre in Canberra on Thursday after the ACT was plunged into a snap seven-day lockdown

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