Canberra records first case of coronavirus as man in 30s taken to hospital
The ACT’s chief health officer says Canberra is now part of the coronavirus “club” after its first confirmed case. Officials have refused to release important details about the case.
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Canberra health officials are today scrambling to track down anyone who has come into contact with the national capital’s first confirmed coronavirus patient.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Thursday confirmed a man in his 30s was the first positive test result for the virus in the ACT.
Neither Mr Barr nor ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman would release any details about where the man was from or where he had been in recent days.
They also called on the public to not panic.
Mr Barr said officials had been expecting a Territory resident would eventually test positive to the virus.
“This is, however, not cause for alarm,” he said.
Every state and Territory has now had confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Dr Coleman said: “We have been expecting this for weeks now, we are now part of the club.”
The man will be treated at Canberra Hospital, where medical staff will take special precautions to prevent becoming infected, and to prevent the spread of the virus to other patients and visitors.
The man first became unwell on Tuesday, and fronted for testing at the Weston Creek walk-in centre in Wednesday.
His test result came back positive early on Thursday morning.
Dr Coleman said 441 people had tested negative for the virus.
She said the man’s movements over the past fortnight were unclear, but he had not been overseas.
It was possible, Dr Coleman said, that the man had become infected somewhere else in Australia, but she would not publicly detail his movements, nor where in the ACT he was from.
“We’re not fully across who he has been into contact with in the past 14 days,” Dr Coleman said.
“At the moment our focus has been on getting this person admitted to hospital.”
It is not clear whether he could have been in contact with an infected defence force official who flew from Sydney to Canberra and back for a meeting at defence force headquarters on February 28.
Public health officials would today be in contact with the man’s immediate circle of friends, family and work colleagues for testing, Dr Coleman said.