ACT Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, is today advising the Canberra community of the ACT’s second death from COVID-19.

The individual, a male in his 80s, had pre-existing health issues and died at The Canberra Hospital.

“It is my sad duty to report that the ACT has recorded its second death from COVID-19,” Dr Coleman said.

“I offer my sincere condolences to this person’s family and friends.

“My thoughts are with you in this very difficult time.”

Dr Coleman said the very sad reality of this disease is that the elderly and the vulnerable are at a greatly increased risk of complications.

“It is especially to protect these vulnerable groups that we all need to take the physical distancing measures we are implementing seriously.

“Stay at home as much as possible and only go out when you need to. If you do leave the house for essential reasons, like shopping, exercising, for medical reasons or to work, please limit the amount of interaction you have with other people.

“Try to keep a 1.5m distance from people outside of your household group, wash your hands regularly - for 20-30 seconds each time, and cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.

“These measures will give us the best chance to slow the spread of this disease and protect our most vulnerable.”

Confirmed cases update

In the ACT, there have been two (2) new confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the ACT’s total to 93.

The new cases consist of one (1) male and one (1) female, aged between 40 and 53. One (1) of the new cases is linked to overseas travel, and the other is a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

There are currently thirteen (13) COVID-19 patients in Canberra hospitals.

A total of 18 cases have recovered from COVID-19 and have been released from self-isolation. The remainder are isolating at home with ACT Health support.

There have been 5,235 negative COVID-19 tests in the ACT to date.

General information

ACT Health is continuing to take appropriate public health action in line with national guidelines.

It’s important for Canberrans to remain calm and keep informed, and to keep focussed on the practical things we can all do to protect ourselves, our families and the most vulnerable in our community.

The ACT Government has established a new dedicated COVID- 19 website for all information about the health and economic response to the pandemic in the ACT. For further information visit www.covid19.act.gov.au .

We encourage all Canberrans to continue to stay up to date on developments through the new COVID-19 website, as well as ACT Health social media channels.

People who are concerned and want further information on the virus, can also call the Australian Government’s Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080. The line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For details on how the ACT stats compare to other jurisdictions across Australia, visit the Australian Government Department of Health website. This information is updated daily.