ACT and Australia to stop reporting daily COVID case numbers

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said daily case numbers will stop being reported across Australia following an agreement between the federal and state health ministers.

"The winter wave of COVID-19 has passed, and we have reached a stage in the pandemic where daily reporting is not as important as it was," she said.

"Weekly reporting will allow the public to stay informed about the level of COVID in the ACT and the impacts it is having on our health system and society more broadly.

"Of course, if there are any developments of concern, the government will alert the community."

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the move was supported by chief health officers and would bring national reporting in line across all states and territories.

He said it would ensure "high-quality, accurate information" and would shed "more light on COVID dynamics".

This will include trend data on notifications, hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths across jurisdictions and nationally.

The national report will be expanded to include trends-based analysis and oral antiviral treatment uptake.

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A weekly epidemiological report has been published by ACT Health since April and it includes data from the week before about total case numbers, hospitalisation, vaccination rates and deaths.

This will continue to be published.

The changes to COVID reporting will coincide with other changes to public health measures about to come into place.

From Friday, people who test positive for COVID-19 will only have to isolate for five days, down from seven days. Masks will also no longer be mandatory on planes.

Reported case numbers in the ACT have rapidly declined over the past two months. Two months ago, on July 7 during the winter peak, the seven-day rolling average of case numbers was 1233.

The seven-day rolling average currently sits at 155.

The ACT has also recorded a second day with known active COVID cases below 1000, as new detected infections steadily decline. ACT Health announced on Wednesday that 138 new cases were reported in Canberra in the 24 hours to 8pm Tuesday.

ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman had flagged an intention to stop reporting daily COVID-19 case numbers last month. She said the daily reporting created "a level of elevated anxiety" and this achieved very little.

She said authorities would consider releasing more information if the situation worsened.

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