The ACT has agreed to the National Cabinet goal of zero community transmission of COVID-19.
In a statement, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said COVID-19 would remain a threat to public health for the foreseeable future, even when there was no community transmission.
“Australia is now experiencing a second wave which is inherently different to the first wave,” Mr Barr said.
“There is a predominance of community transmission, a change in the affected demographic and a rapid escalation of cases,” he said.
“The recent outbreaks have demonstrated that if the disease is able to enter the community unseen, it will spread quickly.”
Mr Barr said that for these reasons, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) recommended, and the National Cabinet agreed, that the policy goal for Australia should be to have no community transmission of COVID-19.
“This represents a further strengthening of the current suppression strategy, but acknowledges that new cases will occur,” he said.
“Success will rely on finding those cases early and stopping chains of transmission.”
Mr Barr said achieving and maintaining the goal required four key things: a strict commitment to personal measures (hygiene, physical distancing and staying home if unwell); active case finding and contact tracing; targeted testing of the affected population; and community based interventions.
