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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lucy Bladen

Vaping responsible for a number of Canberra's COVID-19 cases

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman. Picture: Karleen Minney

A number of Canberra's daily COVID-19 cases have come from people sharing vaping equipment, ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman has revealed.

Dr Coleman said the number of daily cases that came from vaping had more than doubled in the few weeks, with four to eight cases identified each day.

"The sharing of vaping equipment has been identified as a potential transmission pathway," she said.

"In the current environment, I think actions like this are undoubtedly going to increase the risk of transmission in our community.

"So think about everything you do where you are sharing some form of saliva or a piece of equipment."

The trend was being seen in young people and household contacts, Dr Coleman said.

Canberra will emerge from lockdown on Friday, after the chief health officer gave the final sign-off to the ACT's emergency cabinet on Monday.

Dr Coleman said to expect an increase in cases, with the possibility that the daily number could reach at least 100 within a fortnight.

"We're working towards seeing 50 cases, up to 60 cases and then up to 100 cases per day, I'm really not sure how long that will take," she said.

"We may see 50 cases per day but the mid to end of next week.

"It may take us another couple of weeks to get to 100 cases or we may see it happen over a fortnight."

The ACT recorded another 28 cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday.

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