Eight cases of COVID-19 were reported in Canberra to 8pm on Friday, and none were infectious in the community.

Several cases have been linked to an ACT disability care provider, the Sunday Canberra Times understands. But it was unclear whether those numbers were added to Saturday's figures, or will be announced in Sunday's tally.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT's lockdown would not end until the outbreak was crushed, but the low case numbers showed the situation was improving.

"This is the lockdown working," Mr Barr said.

Mr Barr said he was concerned other states and territories could move to relax restrictions before effective vaccination coverage was achieved for 70 or 80 per cent of the population, as outlined plans adopted by national cabinet.

"When the nation hits 70 per cent, I want Canberra to be closer to 80 [per cent]. And when the nation hits 80 [per cent], I really want Canberra to be closer to 90 [per cent]. We will do everything we can to achieve that," he said.

Mr Barr said higher vaccination coverage would better protect the Canberra community, which could not be sealed off from the rest of the country.

"That's why we are doing the work to roll out the program for 12- to 15-year-olds. [That's] why as soon as we get vaccine supplies we want to see more 16- to 29-year-olds to get vaccinated," he said.

Mr Barr said the ACT intended to have a vaccination program for 12- to 15-year-olds under way before the end of the school year, but it would depend on vaccine supply.

NSW reported a record 825 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the worst single daily tally of infections for any state since the pandemic began.

The source of infection for more than 670 of those cases was under investigation.

Hundreds of people were arrested at anti-lockdown rallies across the country on Saturday.

A crowd of 4000 people yelled slogans and let off flares in Melbourne's city centre, while more than 2000 people gathered in Brisbane. NSW police fined more than 260 people across the state.

ACT police received no reports of protest activity in the territory on Saturday and did not respond to any activity, a spokeswoman said.

Eleven people were told by police to leave the ACT on Friday for breaching the public health orders.

Two people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been admitted to hospital in Canberra but were being treated for unrelated issues.

READ MORE:

Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said all eight of the cases reported on Saturday were linked to known cases or exposure sites, and were not infectious in the community.

Dr Coleman said investigations into the index case were still ongoing, but 100 or the 102 cases identified in the ACT have been linked to known cases or exposure sites.

The ACT changed the way it reported COVID-19 cases, with a new cut off of 8pm. In previous days, the cut off was 9am the day the cases were announced.

Dr Coleman said the change would give contact tracers time to assess whether cases had been active in the community during their infectious period before the daily 11.45am press conference.

"It does mean that today's case number is probably a little artificially low and tomorrow will be back up to possibly what we were seeing yesterday or the day before," she said.

The ACT conducted 4683 COVID-19 tests across its clinics on Friday, where wait times remain generally short.

Dr Coleman said eight sites across the ACT had been identified as transmission locations, with the addition of the Belconnen basketball stadium, to where 3 cases had been linked.

There have been 29 cases linked to Lyneham High School and 20 cases linked to the Fiction nightclub, one of the outbreak's earliest transmission sites, the chief health officer said.

While 40 per cent of cases in the outbreak are aged under 17, 46 per cent of cases are now aged between 18 and 44.

"That is because we are starting to see household contacts of those [school] students as our new cases coming forward," Dr Coleman said.

READ MORE:

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said Canberrans should be cautious in assessing Saturday's case numbers, with more cases expected in coming days.

"But this is a really great sign that this is the lockdown working and this is contact tracing work and this is isolation and quarantine working," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

Mr Barr said the ACT needed to "hold the line" on restrictions, and Sydney was a "live case study" for what happens if restrictions were not right from the start of an outbreak.

The Chief Minister flagged further business support would be made available in the coming days.

"Our aim is to get this support to businesses as soon as possible, recognising the financial pressures that are being experienced," Mr Barr said.

More than 6800 businesses have already registered for support across already announced schemes, either solely funded by the ACT or jointly funded by the ACT and the Commonwealth.

with Finn McHugh, Peter Brewer

Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.

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: