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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Andrew Brown

'Best case scenario': Canberra goes 24 hours without new coronavirus cases

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the ACT remains at 96, after no new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours.

It's the first day that zero new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Canberra since March 17.

ACT health authorities said seven patients remained in Canberra Hospital, three of them in intensive care.

Of the 96 cases, 40 have recovered and have been released from hospital, while the remainder are in isolation.

There have been more than 5300 negative tests for coronavirus.

Acting ACT chief health officer Dr Vanessa Johnson said while the news was welcome, Canberrans should be wary of complacency in the community.

"Canberrans have been doing a fantastic job complying with the rules on physical distancing and staying at home, and this is definitely helping us to flatten the curve," Dr Johnson said.

"However, this disease is still spreading throughout Australia.

"There will be more cases of COVID-19 in the ACT and we are now even more actively looking for undetected cases."

As social distancing restrictions have come into effect, Dr Johnson said the outcome on Monday was a "best-case scenario".

"Some were predicting a significant exponential rise and we took it seriously," she said.

"It is still really early days and what we risk is if we relax restrictions and there's an uptick in cases, we need to be prepared. We've got a long way to go."

It comes after it was announced random testing for coronavirus would be rolled out to the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre along with the drive-through testing clinic at EPIC from Monday.

Health authorities say they are searching for possible cases of community transmission.

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There are two cases of coronavirus in the ACT where authorities have not determined how the patient contracted the virus.

Dr Johnson said authorities were also looking into how a man in his 80s who later died from coronavirus in Canberra contracted coronavirus, after it was revealed he had not travelled overseas recently or was not a close contact of a confirmed case.

The acting chief health officer said the case was "concerning".

ACT Health said it was looking for undetected cases in high-risk areas such as the healthcare and aged care sectors.

"While there is currently no confirmed community transmission in Canberra, expanding our surveillance will assist to detect this early," Dr Johnson said.

"I encourage Canberrans not to be complacent. Stay home this Easter, do not travel down the coast or interstate or organise large family gatherings.

"Continue with physical distancing measures as well as maintaining excellent hand and respiratory hygiene practices."

More to come.

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There are 96 coronavirus cases in the ACT, seven of which are in Canberra Hospital. Picture: Elesa Kurtz
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