27 September 2023

ACT warned it’s in COVID’s way

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Canberrans are being urged to avoid all unnecessary travel to Sydney in light of the steady increases of COVID-19 cases in NSW.

In a joint statement, Chief Minister Andrew Barr and the Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the risk of the virus returning to the Territory was edging higher every day as the number of active cases in NSW continued to rise.

“The NSW Premier and Chief Health Officer have reiterated that the State is now in a critical stage of their COVID-19 response,” Mr Barr and Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“The NSW Government is encouraging people to wear a mask in enclosed spaces where physical distancing is not possible,” they said.

“NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has been clear that wearing masks is the fourth line of defence after social distancing, hand hygiene and staying home if you are sick.”

Mr Barr and Ms Stephen-Smith said Canberra was not an area of high community transmission and, therefore, wearing face masks was not currently a mandatory requirement.

“However, a situation may arise in the future where that changes,” they said.

“If we start to see cases in areas immediately surrounding the ACT, or we start to get new cases in Canberra, then wearing a face mask in public will feature as part of our response.”

They encouraged ACT residents to prepare for the possibility of wearing facemasks, particularly those residents unable to physically distance in their work or daily activities.

The Ministers said any travel to Greater Sydney should be avoided unless it was absolutely essential and Canberrans should not be inviting family and friends from the Greater Sydney area to visit them in Canberra.

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