The ACT will require all people entering Canberra from Greater Sydney to self-declare and quarantine from midnight on Sunday.
Residents of the hotspot have been told not to travel to the capital and returning Canberrans will be required to quarantine at home.
The move to close the ACT to people from Greater Sydney follows similar decisions by states and territories across the country.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the restrictions would apply to people from Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Nepean Blue Mountains.
ACT COVID-19 update (20 December 2020)
▪️ Cases today: 1
▪️ Active cases: 1
▪️ Total cases: 118
▪️ Recovered: 114
▪️ Lives lost: 3
▪️ Test results (past 24 hours): 999
▪️ Negative tests: 129,051ℹ️ https://t.co/2rCcWDk4wl pic.twitter.com/tjPI7hOvoH
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) December 20, 2020
“If you are an ACT resident returning, you will be required to undertake 14 days’ quarantine if you return after 11.59pm tonight,” she said.
“If you are not an ACT resident, please do not come to the ACT.
“This will be managed by a declaration process rather than a permit process.”
ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman said transmission of COVID-19 in Sydney outside of the Northern Beaches was of concern to authorities in Canberra.
“What we are trying to achieve here is to prevent seeding of the virus any further,” she said.
The ACT has also recorded one case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine – its first in nearly a month.
–ABC
