Canberra COVID-19 figures update reveals increase in hospital numbers

COVID case numbers increased 30 per cent this week, on top of a 25 per cent increase in reported cases last week.

There were 1194 new COVID cases reported the seven days up until 4pm on Thursday, up from 910 cases the week before. A woman in her 80s also died with coronavirus during the past seven days.

Health authorities have held off from introducing new restrictions for the ACT, while urging residents to exercise extra precautions.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the whole community should be thinking about their responsibility to wear masks and maintain physical distance in indoor spaces, particularly with people they don't know.

"The other thing I would be encouraging Canberrans to do is to think ahead about some of the events you might be having in November or December. If you can have those events outdoors then think about doing so," she said.

Health authorities are considering bringing back daily COVID-19 case reporting if numbers continue to grow.

The Health Minister said daily case reporting would not occur in the next fortnight to avoid overwhelming ACT pathology, which is currently involved in rolling out a new digital health record system.

With mandatory isolation scrapped from last month and testing limited to five facilities, COVID data is now largely dependent on people self-reporting positive results.

Ms Stephen-Smith said as one of the only jurisdictions still requiring people to report positive rapid antigen tests, the ACT probably had a "slightly more accurate" understanding of cases than elsewhere.

She said an increase in hospitalisations provided another indication the ACT was at the beginning of a fourth wave.

There were 52 people in ACT hospitals at the time of the latest reporting period, 15 more than the previous week.

To protect staff and customers, particularly those working with vulnerable communities, businesses have been reminded to review their COVID safety plans.

Workplaces with the capacity to consider hybrid work situations should do so, Ms Stephen-Smith.

While isolation mandates and new restrictions ahead of Christmas are not currently being considered, the Health Minister said "never say never" during a pandemic.

"We're in a very different situation this year from where we were last year," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

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High vaccination levels, winter caseloads providing some immunity and the new strain's seemingly reduced severity meant a significantly better situation for Australians than was experienced last year, she said.

"I don't know when we're going to be able to say this is just part of our normal life and it's an endemic disease," Ms Stephen Smith said.

"We're not there yet."

The total number of cases in the ACT since the pandemic began in March 2020 has now hit 210,609.

Chris Wallace, from the University of Canberra, said state and federal governments had been slack all winter and slow to prepare for the wave health experts knew was on the way.

Dr Wallace said it was time the Albanese government established effective, instead of half-hearted and inadequate, guidelines on COVID.

"Mandatory isolation periods should be restored. Indoor mask-wearing in confined public spaces needs to be established as a norm," she said.

"A clear guide to which people are entitled to what vaccinations and boosters, and when they're entitled to them, should be widely advertised. Vaccination needs to be established as a socially positive norm.

"This needs to be wrapped up into a big, catchy, persuasive information campaign that people can't miss."

Dr Wallace said confirmed COVID deaths under the Albanese government since May were about to overtake the number of confirmed COVID deaths under the entire Morrison government.

"That's a bad fail from a political party which is supposed to be committed to positive public health policy," she said.

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