ACT restrictions remain unchanged, but authorities warn of 'quickly evolving situation' in Sydney

NSW is braced to record more than 100 new Covid cases on Monday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said, with the virus spreading rapidly through Sydney's south-west. There were 77 cases recorded on Sunday.

But at this stage the ACT government has not moved to tighten restrictions.

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said new restrictions would not be introduced in the territory, after a two-week home quarantine requirement was imposed on people returning from Sydney on Friday.

"Travel restrictions for Greater Sydney were strengthened on Friday. These restrictions remain in place with no changes, however this is a quickly evolving situation and people should be prepared for health advice and travel restrictions to change," Dr Coleman said.

"ACT Health is closely monitoring the situation in NSW. We will not hesitate to make further changes to health advice and travel restrictions in order to protect the Canberra community."

A two-week mask mandate for the ACT was also relaxed this weekend. There are no longer any requirements for Canberrans to wear masks in indoor venues, however, authorities strongly encourage masks to be worn in situations where physical distancing is not possible.

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ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said given there were no cases in regional NSW the mandate was not currently needed.

"The situation in NSW is of increasing concern, we are continuing to monitor the situation and are constantly assessing our own health advice to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the ACT," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"With strengthened travel advice for Greater Sydney and no cases in regional NSW, the mask mandate will not be reintroduced in the ACT at this time.

"While this is the current advice, we remind Canberrans that the situation can change quickly and we may need to implement further measures at any time."

Non-ACT residents are currently banned from entering the territory from Greater Sydney without an exemption but this is only given in extenuating circumstances.

Any ACT resident returning from Sydney has to do two weeks of home quarantine and can only leave in an emergency or to seek essential medical care.

The rules have been strengthened from previous 'stay-at-home' requirements which allowed people to leave to shop for food, exercise and study and work, if this was not possible from home.

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