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

The individual, a female in her 80s who acquired the disease overseas, died over the weekend at the Canberra Hospital.

Dr Coleman offered her sincere condolences to the family and friends of the individual.

“My thoughts are with the family and friends of this person through such a difficult time,” Dr Coleman said.

“This is the very sad reality of this disease, which is seeing the elderly at an increased risk of complications from COVID-19.

“It is why we need everyone to take the social distancing measures we are implementing seriously. We need everyone to stay at home where possible, to practice good hygiene and to keep at least 1.5 metres away from others.

“These measures will give us the best chance to slow the spread of this disease and protect our most vulnerable. This is particularly important as we will continue to see the number of cases increase and local transmission start to occur in the ACT.

“I also want to offer my thanks to the healthcare workers in our hospitals and in the community, who are caring for those in our community with COVID-19, and who are supporting their families.”

Confirmed cases update

There has been one (1) new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the ACT’s total to 78.

The new case is a female in her 30s. ACT Health can confirm the new case was linked to overseas travel.

There are two cases still under investigation by ACT Health.

While there remains no evidence of community transmission in the ACT, we continue to advise that it is inevitable we will start to see this at some point.

There have been 4363 negative COVID-19 tests in the ACT to date.

There are currently six (6) COVID-19 patients in Canberra Hospital. The rest are isolating at home with ACT Health support.

A total of two (2) cases have recovered from COVID-19 and have been released from self-isolation.

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

Cases in the ACT Count Confirmed cases 78 Number of negative tests 4363 Recovered 2

By sex Count Male 45 Female 33

By age group Count 0-29 12 30-39 9 40-49 13 50-59 11 60-69 18 70+ 15

By likely source of infection Count Overseas acquired 63 Interstate acquired 4 Contact of a confirmed ACT case 9 Unknown / local transmission 0 Under investigation 2

Update on returning travellers

ACT Health can provide the community with an update on the seven (7) returning travellers who flew into Canberra on Qatar Airways on Saturday morning. All continue to be well.

As of this afternoon, five (5) of the seven will continue with their mandatory self-quarantine at home. This follows a thorough assessment by public health staff on the ability of these individuals to safely quarantine at home, without potentially exposing other family members.

Two (2) will continue to be in quarantine at a Canberra hotel. Appropriate arrangements are being put in place to protect the community, while supporting the health and wellbeing of these individuals.

General information

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.