Canberrans are still no closer to understanding just how COVID-19 re-entered the territory. We learnt on Friday it was definitely the Delta strain and 1800 people had potentially been exposed to it. There are some tough days ahead for the territory.
It's only natural people want to know why - and how - this has happened.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says now is not the time to have that conversation. The ACT's chief police officer, Neil Gaughan, says he's not in the business of throwing the book at anyone, and warned people off the social media rumour mill. "It's not a kangaroo court," he said.
This rapidly evolving situation deserves an explanation. Without a full picture of what happened, it will be impossible to say whether the ACT's Covid protections were adequate in the lead-up to this fresh outbreak.
Health authorities have to manage a delicate balance between the needs of public health and public deterrence.
By shaming an individual now, contact tracers risk future cases keeping mum about their movements and making the task of containing the outbreak even more difficult. People who have done the wrong thing - and chances are they'll recognise that themselves - need to feel confident they can divulge what they have done without an immediate public pile-on.
Any desire to publicly name and shame an individual is misguided. There's no public interest in it. This is not to say there should be no consequences for anyone who has done the wrong thing, if indeed they have. But if they have transgressed, the best thing they can do now is co-operate with contact tracers.
There is always going to be a deep-seated human desire to blame. It's the right call not to offer an individual to the court of public opinion to be condemned, exiled, excommunicated and executed. However, this is no argument for absolute secrecy. A full picture will be needed to understand how the outbreak happened. Canberrans deserve that so they understand why their lives have been upended for seven days.
If those answers are not provided immediately, they will need to be soon. Without them, a vacuum of public rumour and innuendo will be filled with claims of differing degrees of absurdity. Saying nothing will be no long-term help to the public health effort, either.
It's an incredibly difficult path to tread. If the public smells a cover-up, they'll be frustrated, disappointed and downright angry. If health authorities - or the press - give away too much, then that could be equally disastrous and damaging.
Quashing a virus as virulent as Delta requires strong community goodwill. The supply of that sentiment will wear thin if the community's desire to know why they're being asked to wear this lockdown is not properly satisfied.
