Page 281 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 9 February 2021
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government official who returned from overseas and entered quarantine. This individual underwent a routine day 12 test, which returned a positive result. The individual was supported by ACT Health and has since been cleared of infection.
I am pleased to report that we currently have no active cases in the ACT. A total of 115 cases have recovered; sadly, there were three deaths early in the pandemic.
On 30 January I announced that our wastewater testing regime had detected coronavirus fragments in the Belconnen catchment. In response to this detection, we asked Canberrans in the Belconnen area to get tested for COVID-19 if they were experiencing any symptoms and urged anyone who lives, works or has recently visited the Belconnen area to get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms. It was pleasing to see the increase in daily testing across the ACT in the days following this wastewater detection, and it is vital that our testing rates continue to stay high in order for ACT Health to identify if there are any unknown cases in our community. Pleasingly, a subsequent wastewater test returned a negative result on 4 February.
As members may be aware, the ACT has joined the NSW Health wastewater COVID surveillance program. Initially, a sample of wastewater was collected weekly from the lower Molonglo water quality control plant, which receives wastewater from more than 99 per cent of the ACT population. From December 2020 this was expanded to six collection sites, which reduced the catchment areas, increasing the likelihood of detecting coronavirus early. Wastewater testing will continue across the ACT to support our COVID-19 response and inform future public health directions.
Madam Speaker, this wastewater detection re-emphasises the importance of being prepared to respond and surge our response to protect the community. To ensure that we are well situated, the government continues to review and update our planning to ensure that our public health experts have the resources they need to protect our community.
The Chief Minister and I recently announced that the government has allocated $39 million in additional funding through the 2020-21 budget to ensure that our public health team can continue to respond as appropriate. This funding will deliver more supplies of PPE, dedicated resourcing for the Public Information Coordination Centre, and expanded resourcing for the Health Emergency Coordination Centre. It will also ensure that our compliance and education and public transport cleaning services continue to provide a greater layer of protection.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to report that testing numbers in the ACT continue to be strong, recently surpassing 159,000 negative tests. The clusters in Sydney and the declaration of greater Brisbane as an affected area affected many Canberrans returning from those areas over the holiday period. In late December and early January our testing numbers rose well above previous averages.
Of course, it is still vitally important to present for testing if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, no matter how mild. The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, and loss of smell or taste. Less common symptoms are runny or blocked nose, muscle pain, joint pain, diarrhoea, nausea,
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