The ACT has recorded its first death from coronavirus.
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The patient, a woman in her 80s, acquired the disease from overseas and died in Canberra Hospital over the weekend.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the woman was understood to have had a pre-existing health condition, although she did not provide further detail out of respect for the woman's family.
Ms Stephen-Smith would not say if the woman had been a passenger on a cruise ship, only that she contracted the virus outside Australia.
The news of the woman's death, which brought the national death toll from coronavirus to 18, came as the ACT recorded just one new case of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman, Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Opposition leader Alistair Coe and Ms Stephen-Smith expressed their condolences to the woman's family.
"This does reflect the significance of this virus and the impacts it can particularly have on older people," Mr Barr said.
"It serves as a reminder about why we must all observe the rules which have been put in place by the national cabinet over the weekend."
Ms Stephen-Smith said the death was a "tragic reminder" that the ACT was not "immune and somehow magically protected" from the virus.
ACT Opposition leader Alistair Coe said: "I offer my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of a Canberra woman who has passed away after contracting COVID-19.
"I hope to encourage all Canberrans to continue to follow the advice of National Cabinet and health authorities. Now more than ever is the time for our community to draw together in spirit and solidarity."
The new case is a woman in her 30s, who has been linked to overseas travel.
There are now 78 coronavirus cases in the ACT.
Health authorities are still investigating how two further cases contracted the virus.
Six cases remain in Canberra Hospital, while the rest are self-isolating. Two in Canberra Hospital remain in the intensive care unit.
There is still no evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in the ACT, although health authorities continue to warn that it was only a matter of time.
The percentage of new coronavirus cases across Australia has been falling in recent days, giving authorities hopes that travel restrictions and "social distancing" measures designed to slow the virus' spread have been working.
Dr Coleman said the decision to shut Australia's borders to overseas visitors had been a major factor in reducing the number of new cases.
But she cautioned that the numbers of daily cases could spike any day.
Seven passengers on an international flight from Doha to Canberra had been forced to spend the weekend quarantined in Barton's Burbury Hotel after landing on Saturday morning.
Five of those passengers have now been given permission to finish their mandatory 14-day isolation period at home, while two will remain at the hotel.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the decision to release the five passengers was not at odds with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's position, who announced on Friday that all overseas arrivals would be quarantined at a hotel for 14 days.
She said the national cabinet had specifically given state and territory chief health officers the power to decide if it was appropriate for an individual to quarantine at home.
"The chief health officer ... is satisfied that sufficient arrangements have been put in place to enable those people to undertake mandatory quarantine," she said.
Ms Stephen-Smith said health protection authorities and defence personnel were making daily contact with those required to be in self-isolation, to both check in on their physical and mental health and to make sure they were staying at home.
However, The Canberra Times is aware of people who are yet to be contacted by authorities more than a week after they returned from overseas.
She said ACT Policing had started randomly visiting the homes of people who were required to be in mandatory isolation. She said the overwhelming majority of people were complying with the rules, although she said there had been one "difficult case".
On Monday, Mr Barr took aim at Canberrans who chose to spend the weekend on the NSW South Coast, despite being urged to remain at home.
"If you are a Canberran, you should be staying in Canberra," he said.
"That is the best thing that you can do for South Coast communities and for your own well-being.
"We are appealing to people's common sense, people's understanding of the situation in other communities and would ask the question - 'why would you do that [travel]'?
"In light of what is happening in this country and around the world, it just strikes me as extraordinarily selfish."
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the 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)
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