A fifth coronavirus case in three days has been confirmed in the ACT.
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ACT Health says it is a woman in her 20s who is a close contact of a case recorded earlier in the week.
The woman is currently in quarantine, and as a close contact of a previously confirmed case, also attended:
- Westfield Belconnen on Monday 6 July between 12pm and 12:30pm.
It comes after three cases - one woman and two men all in their 20s - were confirmed on Wednesday. A fourth was recorded on Thursday.
Two of the cases recorded on Wednesday arrived in the ACT from a Melbourne hotspot on Thursday, before mandatory quarantine was implemented.
The remaining three cases have all been linked to them.
ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman said on Thursday it was likely more cases would be identified as hundreds of Canberrans return from Victoria to mandatory self-isolation.
The government has advised anyone who has returned to the ACT from Melbourne before mandatory quarantine was introduced to self isolate for 14 days from the date they returned home.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT's new cases this week should serve as a reminder the pandemic was here to stay.
"There will be more localised cases," he said.
"We all have to live with this virus until there is a vaccine, and there's not one coming anytime soon.
"What we've experience this week is something we are likely to experience from time to time, in the months and years ahead."
There are now 257 people who have recently returned to Canberra from Victoria in quarantine - including those isolating at home and at hotels.
Friday's case came on the same day the ACT had been due to move to stage three of restrictions. The new cases have put those plans on hold for at least two weeks.
Dr Coleman said the risk to those who may have been at Westfield Belconnen was low, however anyone who attended this location during this time should continue to be vigilant and monitor themselves for symptoms.
"I want to be clear - there is a very low risk of transmission from exposure to this individual and her household contacts at Westfield Belconnen, due to the short period of time they attended the location and the fact they didn't come into close contact with anyone else during this period," she said.
"We inform the public of locations where people with COVID-19 have been during their infectious period when our contact tracing cannot capture everyone we know was in the same place at the same time, and there is some risk - however low - to the public or staff of exposure to the virus."
Dr Coleman also thanked everyone who has come forward to get tested in the last week, and reiterated the importance of getting tested if you have even the mildest of symptoms.
"We saw around 950 negative test results in the ACT yesterday. That's an amazing result and I thank everyone who has come forward to get tested.
"As we move into the middle of winter we will likely see an increase in respiratory illness in the community, so it's important we all stay vigilant, practice good hand and general hygiene and get tested if you have symptoms.
"The more people we test, the more confident we can be that we are stopping the spread of COVID-19 here in Canberra."
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