Wearing masks has not yet been mandated and the most onerous requirement currently being imposed on residents and visitors is that they must check in when they visit a business premises.

This is in stark contrast to the restrictions on freedom of movement, and even on being able to work, now experienced by millions of people across Sydney and parts of regional NSW, Victoria, and South Australia.

Given it is just over a month since Delta escaped in NSW because an unvaccinated limousine driver had transported infected flight crew, it is timely to reflect on just how lucky the ACT has been and the magnitude of the risks we run.

As Victoria, South Australia, and now Orange and Blayney, have learned, all it takes is one breach by a transport worker, removalist, delivery driver or selfish traveller to start a fire that is very difficult to put out.

Experts are warning greater Sydney and its surrounds are unlikely to emerge from what is now arguably one of the most stringent lockdowns in Australia to date before the end of August at the very earliest.

While recent reports had indicated NSW case numbers were, in the words of the Premier, "stabilising", that changed dramatically on Wednesday with the announcement 110 new cases had been detected. Of these 42 people had been infectious while in the community and another 17 had only been in isolation for part of their infectious period.

This is of grave concern given reports individuals had begun spreading the virus within less than two days of their initial exposure. There have now been more than 1500 cases in NSW since the outbreak began on June 16.

Victoria's lockdown has been extended for another week and the same experts are saying that state may need to stay "under the doona" for at least a month to bring the outbreak under control.

South Australia has also gone into lockdown and the state's health officials are monitoring the situation very closely.

With hundreds of politicians and thousands of staffers, lobbyists and others due to return to Canberra from across the country for the resumption of parliament after the long winter break on August 3 there is a very serious risk some may be carrying the Delta strain of the virus as an unwanted passenger.

While it is true all politicians and staffers from COVID-19 hotspots wishing to return should already be in home quarantine in the ACT by now, the reality is this is hardly an airtight system.

It is quite possible, for example, that an MP from regional NSW might return to Canberra only to learn days later that their hometown has been declared a hotspot. If, as ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith fears, Federal Parliament did become an exposure site it could easily lead to a national Delta strain outbreak.

If COVID-19 can jump from Sydney to Melbourne, to Blayney, to Orange, to Goulburn and to Gundagai, it can easily do the same to Canberra.

So, while life in the ACT appears relatively normal on the surface, the truth is that we are a city under siege. Our best defences remain compliance with all health orders, vaccination, and timely testing.

Those individuals who are only paying lip-service to the check-in requirements by simply waving their smart phone in the general direction of the QR code are kidding themselves and endangering the community.

COVID-19 complacency puts us all at risk of a lockdown, serious illness and even death.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: