ACT records 19 new COVID cases, one death on Monday

A man in his 90s has died, marking the first COVID-related death of the ongoing outbreak. He was a resident of the Calvary Haydon aged care facility in Bruce.

Seven cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious period and at least eight were infectious in the community. Four are under investigation.

Eight patients are in hospital with COVID-19, three are in intensive care and all three on ventilation.

Five of the hospitalised patients are unvaccinated. One has had one dose and two are fully vaccinated. The ages of patients range from their 30s to 90s.

There are now 255 active cases in the ACT. The total number of cases now stands at 769 cases with 513 having recovered.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced 86.6 per cent of the population aged 12 and above has received their first dose and 59.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Mr Barr announced a detailed list of changes to restrictions over the coming weeks as the nation's capital strides toward an 80 per cent vaccination rate and beyond.

From Friday, October 1, two people will be able to visit another household and time outside of the house will be doubled to two hours.

All non-essential retail will be allowed to resume click-and-collect services.

Outdoor personal training, outdoor bootcamps and coaching will be allowed to operate with two staff.

Face masks would remain mandatory for indoor settings for an "extended period" but would eventually be optional for outdoor use, Mr Barr said.

A transition to "medium-level" public health measures is expected to occur after October 14 at 11.59pm.

From October 15, five people will be permitted to visit another household and up to 25 people can gather outdoors.

Licensed venues, cafes and gyms would be allowed to reopen with COVID safe requirements and capacity limits.

Hairdressers, beauty and personal services will also be allowed to recommence with five customers.

Mr Barr signalled weddings, outdoor auctions, hotels, motels, caravan sites, swimming pools will open but with specific restrictions.

Those restrictions would ease further from October 29 in conjunction with increased vaccination rates.

Mr Barr said the roadmap was being worked on before news of a man's death on Monday.

"The work on the roadmap was obviously being undertaken in advance of the news of the death," he said.

"It serves as a reminder to everyone ... that COVID is real and it will take people from us at whatever stage of life."

The government is working to contain outbreaks in the aged care and construction sector after respective clusters appeared over the weekend.

There are now 12 cases linked to a Civic construction site at 7 London Circuit after at least six workers, and three of their family members, tested positive to the virus on Sunday. A further three cases were linked to the cluster in Monday's numbers.

Anyone who visited building B's fifth level from 6.50am to 4pm over the five days between Monday, September 20 and Friday, September 24 is considered a close contact.

Close contacts must immediately quarantine, complete an ACT contact declaration form, get tested for COVID-19 and remain in quarantine until advised further by ACT Health, even if they receive a negative test result.

Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said two more building sites in Dickson would be added as exposure locations on Monday.

Dr Coleman said the DKSN Construction Site at 21 - 23 Challis Street and CORE Building Group - Mulberry Construction Site at 330 Northbourne Avenue would join the growing list of construction sites with COVID-19 cases.

Cases were also detected at Canberra Hospital on the weekend, prompting officials to declare a surgical area a COVID "red zone".

The Calvary Haydon Retirement Community aged care facility has been listed as a close-contact site over a four-day period after positive cases were announced last week.

Over the border, NSW recorded 787 cases on Monday with another 12 deaths.

Nine new cases were added to the tally from the Southern local health district, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 118 since the outbreak started in June.

Five of the cases were recorded in Batemans Bay with four linked to known cases and one under investigation.

Queanbeyan recorded four new cases with all of them under investigation.

In Victoria, 705 new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 were recorded and one death.

The new infections bring the number of active cases in the state to 8538.

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