A Sydney man suspected of travelling to Canberra while infected with coronavirus has returned a false-positive result.
The man in his 40s who visited the National Gallery of Australia and a city cafe, Via Dolce Pasticceria, on June 14 has been ruled out as having coronavirus, following the reassessment by medical professionals.
The ruling will allow 260 residents currently quarantine in the ACT to leave their houses from Friday.
As ACT Health spokesperson said initial tests for the person who attended the Masterpieces exhibition at the gallery indicated that he had low virus levels and it was not possible to rule out he was infected with COVID-19.
ACT Health said it took appropriate action based on the information available at the time to manage potential contacts, considering the risk to the community.
"As a result of this assessment by NSW Health's expert panel, the sites identified last week as COVID-19 exposure locations are no longer considered by ACT Health to be close contact exposure locations or areas of concern," an ACT Health spokesperson said.
We’re assessing the evolving situation in NSW to determine appropriate actions to keep the ACT community safe. We will provide any further information later today.
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) June 25, 2021
"Enacting public health measures early in response to the notification of a positive case of COVID-19 is a crucial part of ACT Health's work to protect the Canberra community.
"Today we have released around 260 people from quarantine, who had been required to quarantine as close contacts of this case after attending the National Gallery of Australia on June 14."
ACT Health said those in quarantine would be contacted directly on Friday.
"We thank those who have been in quarantine based on the public health advice at the time, and all those who got tested as casual contacts," the spokesperson said.
The Botticelli to Van Gogh Botticelli exhibition was the most attended at the gallery in the past decade and had been sold out across the Queen's Birthday long weekend, including during the time the man visited.
The exposure-site warning has contributed to an increase in coronavirus tests in the ACT in the last week and ACT Government reverting the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre back to a dedicated COVID-19 testing facility.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr warned against travel to Sydney this weekend, after another 22 coronavirus cases were recorded there. A decision on whether a travel ban would be introduced was likely to be announced on Friday afternoon.
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