Canberrans should avoid nightclubs and gyms in the lead-up to Christmas if they want to reduce the likelihood of ending up in quarantine or contracting COVID before the weekend, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has said.
Health authorities are also continuing to monitor the need to reintroduce mask-wearing requirements and limit visitors to high-risk settings, including aged care facilities, but the ACT's domestic health restrictions remained unchanged on Monday.
A range of gyms, restaurants and nightclubs have been identified as exposure sites in the territory this month, with most rated as casual contact sites. There are nine current close contact exposure sites.
Ms Stephen-Smith said people who wanted to protect themselves in the lead up to Christmas and the new year should think about the places they go, and wear masks indoors in spaces where it is not able to remain distanced from others.
"If you want to protect yourself at this point in time, not attending a gym or a nightclub might be a sensible choice," she said.
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has prompted concern an exposure of the virus in a densely populated exposure site, like a nightclub, could generate a large cluster of cases in the ACT, similar to a superspreader event in Newcastle.
Two men received fines last week for allegedly skipping self-isolation to go clubbing in Newcastle before testing positive.
The two 20-year-olds attended the Argyle House nightclub, the same day both had been ordered to self-isolate as they were close contacts of COVID-19 cases. More than 200 people acquired the virus at the party, and there were 660 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Hunter New England region, which includes Newcastle, on Monday.
Ms Stephen-Smith said her strong advice for people travelling at Christmas was to limit time in potential public exposure sites and choose outdoor recreation activities.
"Try to keep yourself to yourself as much as possible. I personally would not be going to a nightclub in the Newcastle region at this point of time. I probably wouldn't even be going out to dinner in that region at this point in time," she said.
The ACT reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. There are 112 people in the ACT with COVID, and three people in hospital; no one is in intensive care.
