A 14-year-old school student at Gold Creek School in Nicholls has tested positive to COVID-19, sending hundreds of people into isolation.
The student was infectious at school from Monday, August 9 to Wednesday, August 11.
Staff, students, and visitors to the school are considered to be close contacts and are required to quarantine. The household members of these people are also required to quarantine as secondary contacts.
Anyone who attended the Nicholls Early Childhood Centre, the out-of-school-hours care and construction workers at Gold Creek School are considered secondary contacts.
Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School staff and students are considered casual contacts and also need to be tested and isolate, however their household members do not need to quarantine.
A pop-up testing centre will be set up at Gold Creek School to test the primary and secondary contacts of this case.
Families at the school received a letter advising them to remain in isolation for 14 days from the last date they attended the school. Close contacts were told to get tested immediately and again in five days.
"If anyone in your household develops any symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness, please get them tested for COVID-19 again," the letter said.
They also need to fill in an ACT contact declaration form for the person who attended the school.
As of Friday morning, 1862 close contacts were associated with the Gold Creek School COVID-19 case, but this number could grow.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said the Gold Creek School facilities were being cleaned.
"We have been planning for a scenario like this to occur and so we are taking action and working through our plans to make sure we are meeting the Covid safety requirements that the Chief Health Officer advises us to and making sure everybody in those school communities ... are being supported and being provided with all the information that they require."
Gold Creek School has a junior and senior campus and construction began in June on an expansion to the senior school.
Holy Spirit Primary School shares a library and outdoor space with the Gold Creek junior school.
ACT Health and the Education Directorate are working together to open the pop-up testing clinic over the weekend.
