The National Cabinet met on Friday 11 March to discuss preparations for winter and an anticipated increase in both COVID-19 and influenza cases.
Winter preparedness
The ACT's decision making on winter public health settings will continue to be supported by the latest health advice, as it has throughout the pandemic.
The AHPPC will meet in the near future to make recommendations on key settings over the winter. Further detail of any proposed measures and the implications will then be considered out-of-session by National Cabinet.
The ACT may need to tighten health measures in response to a new COVID-19 variant, particularly if increased transmission leads to pressure on health system capacity. Any new restrictions will be proportionate to the level of risk, with a focus on reducing impacts on our hospital and public health systems and protecting vulnerable Canberrans.
Should the situation deteriorate, we will move promptly to respond. As we have seen throughout the pandemic, it would be too late to introduce stronger measures if our hospital system is overwhelmed.
Canberra Health Services are putting in place workforce plans in response to an expected increase in demand. The ACT Government will also support communication strategies to encourage the influenza vaccination in the ACT over the coming months.
ACT Epidemiological Update
Like many jurisdictions, the ACT has experienced a slight increase in our rolling average of COVID-19 cases, as well as an emergence of the BA.2 Omicron variant in the community.
The spread of the BA.2 variant is expected to result in a further increase in cases for the Territory. Daily case numbers may increase to around 800 per day by the end of this week, and we anticipate the BA.2 strain will become the dominant strain of the virus in the Territory over the coming weeks.
Modelling from ACT Health and Canberra Health Services suggest that the new variant is unlikely to result in an increase in hospitalisations, which have stabilised in the past few weeks at around 30-40 patients in hospital with COVID-19, and around 1-3 COVID-19 positive patients in ICU.
Vaccination
The ACT has experienced strong demand for boosters. Over 70% of the eligible ACT population (16+) have now received their booster. Canberrans who are yet to get boosted are strongly encouraged to consider getting their booster as we head into the colder months of the year.
79% of ACT residents aged 5-11 have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 10% have received their second dose. There are currently 17,389 future appointments for children aged 5 to 11 years to receive their second dose at an ACT Government clinic.
Schools & Early Childhood Education
The ACT Education Directorate will update parents and students in the coming week on the distribution of RAT tests for the final weeks of Term 1.
Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV)
There are no confirmed or suspected cases of JEV in the ACT.
While there are no commercial piggeries in the ACT, there are piggeries in the south-west slopes of NSW which is part of the catchment area for the tertiary health services provided by the Canberra Hospital.
Any Canberran who has symptoms related to JEV should seek urgent medical attention.
