The ACT recorded 13 more cases of coronavirus on Monday, including five patients linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It brings the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the ACT to 32.
Of the 13 new cases, the patients are aged between 14 and 83.
One of the new cases is being cared for at Canberra Hospital and is stable.
Of the 32 cases territory-wide, three are in Canberra Hospital and all are in stable conditions.
ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said there was still no confirmed community transmission occurring in the ACT, with all cases either coming from overseas or being in contact with a previously confirmed case.
"My staff in ACT Health are working really hard to make contact with any close contacts of confirmed cases as a priority," she said.
"We are bolstering our numbers to make sure we can get to you in plenty of time."
She confirmed five of the 13 new cases had recently disembarked the Ruby Princess cruise ship that docked in Sydney last week.
Almost 2700 passengers were allowed to leave the ship, with 48 cases now linked to it.
"I think we all understand that cruise ships can be quite a incubator for any viruses including gastro as well as respiratory," Dr Coleman said.
The Australian National University has confirmed one staff member and two students have been diagnosed with the virus between March 20 to 22.
The staff member works at the Crawford School and had not come into contact with students, but a handful of staff are self-isolating.
The area has been deep cleaned as per ACT Health guidelines.
The two students had not visited the campus or the ACT while infectious.
Australian Medical Association ACT president Antonio Di Dio said whether Canberra's hospitals would be able to deal with the crisis, depended on everyone abiding by the social distancing measures introduced.
The government says it is able to double ACT's current ICU capacity, and that Canberra Hospital has access to 69 ventilators.
"I've never seen a public health crisis where the outcome is so dependent on everyone doing the right thing," Dr Di Dio said.
"Do we have enough intensive care unit beds? That answer depends on all of us doing the right thing."
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said social distancing and shut down measures were likely to last for several months.
Pubs, registered clubs, gyms, cinemas, casinos and nightclubs were ordered to close by midday Monday.
Restaurants and cafes are restricted to takeaway and/or home delivery, while schools will be pupil free except for children of parents and carers engaged in essential services who are unable to care for their children at home.
Mr Barr said vulnerable children and those with additional needs will also be catered for, and no child would be turned away.
"It won't be for two weeks or four weeks, it will likely be for the rest of the year and beyond," he said.
"We've got a long road ahead of us, life is changing, and I know it is stressful.
"I know lots of people are dealing with challenges, this is the toughest experience most of us will go through in our lives."
"No one has regretted putting these measures in place early in order to slow the spread of the virus, plenty of people have moved too late.
"That is why we have adopted the position we have."
Mr Barr said the approach to combat the virus would be the same as that seen in NSW.
"There's consistency with NSW so all those people who live and work and interact with either side of the NSW and ACT border have the same set of rules," he said.
As of midday Monday, 2576 people had tested negative in the ACT.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.