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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lucy Bladen

Vaccine certificates added to Check In CBR app

The ACT government's Check In CBR app will be able to store a person's COVID-19 digital certificate, following an update to the application's system.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the certificate had been added to the app following feedback, which suggested people wanted a way to quickly show their vaccine status.

The ACT does not require people to show their vaccine certificates when they go to venues, however, the same application is used in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania where vaccine requirements could be used.

Ms Stephen-Smith said this meant the certificate could be used in these jurisdictions as proof of vaccination.

"We heard from our community that having the option to demonstrate their vaccination status quickly and easily was important to them, so the Check In CBR team has been working closely with the Australian government to add this feature to the app," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"While the ACT government has no plans to make proof of vaccination mandatory across sectors such as hospitality, the new Check In CBR feature will make it easier for Canberrans to provide verification of their vaccination status if required."

People can also add the vaccination certificates of people they regularly check in to venues with.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said has previously expressed concern at how easily the Commonwealth's vaccination certificates could be fraudulently produced.

"They are very difficult to verify, easily corrupted, and don't necessarily deliver any of the great public health or vaccination encouragement benefits that some might be claiming," Mr Barr said in September.

The ACT has recorded 1760 COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak on August 12.

There were 18 new cases reported on Tuesday. One person is in hospital and that person is in intensive care and is being ventilated.

In the ACT's weekly epidemiological update on Tuesday, chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said the five-day rolling average had increased over the past week.

She said to the week ending on Sunday the average was at 12, it was under five in the week before.

But testing numbers had improved in the past week, with about an average of 1700 daily tests conducted.

The median age of cases notified last week was 15 years of age, compared with 27 across the entire outbreak.

The chief health officer said she was confident the ACT was now entering uncharted waters as the territory moved from an outbreak scenario to managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease.

No modelling had considered community vaccination rates above 95 per cent, which meant the ACT would continue to perform strongly in containing the number of cases and limiting any strain on the health system, Dr Coleman said.

Dr Coleman said the changes to restrictions was largely due to the ACT's impressive 95 per cent vaccination rate. The changes will also bring the ACT in lockstep with NSW, which was pointed out by Dr Coleman.

"The lifting of restrictions that the chief has spoken about today, we'll align us more closely with New South Wales, and enable a return to day to day activities for most Canberrans," she said.

Alongside changes to density limits for retail and hospitality venues. Canberrans will be able to remove their masks in most settings.

From 11.59pm on Thursday there will be no limits on home visits or informal outdoor gatherings. Indoor and outdoor venues with fixed seating will be able to run events at full seated capacity. Face masks will still be required in high-risk settings, including hospitals, aged-care facilities, public transport and schools, along with some businesses.

A digital vaccine certifcate will be able to be added to the Check In CBR app. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong
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