Canberra records spike in coronavirus cases, 32 now infected with COVID-19
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said: “This is the toughest experience that most of us will go through in our lives”
Canberra Star
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Canberra now has 32 confirmed cases of coronavirus, as nationwide restrictions on businesses, public gatherings and workplaces start to bite.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman on Monday confirmed 13 new cases, bringing the national capital’s total count of infected patients to 32.
The figure included a student at Lyneham High School who was at school last Tuesday while possibly contagious, but whose case was only announced late on Sunday night.
The student did not travel to school on the nearby light rail, and Dr Coleman said she would have been upfront with the public if there was any risk to the wider public.
Lyneham High School was closed on Monday, a day ahead of the closure of all other schools in the ACT.
“We’re all coming to terms with the change in our environment,” Dr Coleman said.
Of the 13 new cases, five had been passengers on the Ruby Princess, which docked in Sydney and allowed nearly 50 people to disembark who later tested positive for the virus.
“I think we all understand that cruise ships can be incubators for viruses,” Dr Coleman said.
The explosion in the number of cases comes just 11 days since the ACT’s first confirmed case.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT would follow the changes put in place in New South Wales so that people who lived on one side of the border but worked on the other would only have one set of rules to navigate.
He also warned of the possibility of even stricter measures to stop the spread of the disease.
“This period will last for months and months and months,” he said.
He said political leaders around the world had been faced with having to impose strict controls on the lives of citizens.
“No one has regretted putting measures in place early,” he said.
“We may have to go harder in the future, so people should prepare for that.”
Mr Barr also said people should avoid travel if they could.
“Ask yourself before you travel, ‘do you need to do this?’,” he said.
The ACT Magistrates Court on Monday announced many “non-essential” proceedings would be put on hold for two weeks in a bid to prevent the virus spreading.
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