The ACT is set to expand its COVID-19 testing criteria as there has been a drop in demand for testing from overseas travellers and close contacts of a confirmed case.
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From Monday, a random selection of people who would not otherwise meet the criteria would be tested at the Weston Creek walk-in centre and at the drive-through testing station at EPIC.
ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman did not give a number on how big the random sample would be but said it would depend on testing supplies.
"What we are going to do is when people present at Weston Creek and the EPIC lines we will be taking a random number of people as they present who otherwise would have been turned away," she said.
"We will have to monitor that against our actual capacity because, as you know, we have to have an adequate supply of reagents and swabs throughout the country."
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"I think we have had a fair few people who are presenting to these testing clinics, perhaps cause they might not understand the testing criteria or they have concerns," she said.
"We have plenty of people already that we can randomly sample and I would strongly suggest people don't turn up unless they meet the testing criteria.
"There is very little value in getting a test if you don't meet the testing criteria."
It came as ACT Health confirmed there was one case in Canberra where a source of transmission had not been identified and investigations were underway to determine if it was a community transmission.
"This person has clearly come into contact with a case somewhere along the line, we can't identify who that is at this point in time," Dr Coleman said.
"This doesn't necessarily mean we are seeing community transmission in the ACT, given the particular circumstances of the case it is highly unlikely the individual acquired the disease from an unknown member of the community.
"I cannot, however, rule out this could be a community transmission at the moment so we are actively looking for evidence of community transmission more broadly in Canberra."
On Friday, it was confirmed four more Canberrans tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the territory's total to 91.
The new cases consist of two males and two females between the ages of 31 and 59.Two cases are linked to overseas travel and two are contacts of previous confirmed cases.
There are now nine COVID-19 patients in Canberra hospitals, of those two are in intensive care.
A total of 18 cases have recovered and have been released from self-isolation.
- 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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