After New South Wales recorded 452 new locally acquired Covid cases on Tuesday, the seven-day average rose to above 400 and only appears to be heading higher.
There were 17 new cases in the Australian Capital Territory, bringing the cluster up to 45. The source for three of these cases was still under investigation. The lockdown in the territory has been extended for two weeks.
Both NSW and the ACT have seen huge increases in Covid testing over the past week, exacerbating the already long wait times experienced in Canberra.
But even with the increased testing, the positivity rate continues to hover around 0.3% in NSW and 0.2% in the ACT.
NSW
Of the 452 locally acquired cases in NSW, there were 30 fully and 24 partially infectious in the community. The isolation status of 297 cases remained under investigation.
The seven-day average of cases active in the community or under investigation is 282 and steadily increasing.
Of the 452 new local cases in NSW, the source of 71.5% is under investigation. The seven-day average of new cases in NSW is now above 400.
Victoria
There were 24 new locally acquired cases in Victoria. Ten were active in the community or under investigation and 14 were fully isolated.
Of the 24 new local cases in Victoria, the source of 12.5% was under investigation. The seven-day average of new cases in Victoria is 21.
Chart of the day: testing
Daily testing numbers in NSW have been climbing steadily for the past month. There has also been a significant increase in Covid-19 testing in the ACT over the past week.
Testing in the ACT is up from an average of 1,000 tests per day to over 7,000 in recent days.
NSW is currently testing about two out of every 100 residents every day, the ACT around 1.7 and Northern Territory 0.7.
