Anyone who was at the Assembly pub on Lonsdale Street a fortnight ago has been asked to come forward for testing to help contact tracers find the source of the Canberra COVID-19 outbreak.
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The Assembly pub has been reclassified as an investigation location between 7pm and 11.59pm on Saturday, August 7.
"These are public locations where we believe several confirmed cases of COVID-19 may have acquired their infection. At this time, we are unable to confirm how the infection was introduced to the location," ACT Health said.
Anyone at an investigation location has been asked to get tested whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms.
Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman on Saturday said work was still under way to identify the first case in the Canberra outbreak, but ACT Health would focus on early exposure sites.
"Don't wait to be contacted by us. You don't need to fill out an ACT Health online contact declaration form. You will only be required to isolate until you get your negative test and you don't need to have symptoms," Dr Coleman said.
Dr Coleman said the Fiction nightclub and Downer Community Centre would also be reclassified as investigation sites, but this was not reflected in ACT Health's 6.45pm update on Saturday.
ACT Health updated its exposure site locations list on Saturday night to include a list of bus and light rail services mainly in the Belconnen and Gungahlin area.
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The majority of exposure locations identified after the start of Canberra's lockdown, at 5pm on Thursday, August 12, have been casual contact sites.
However, the Ginninderra Early Childhood Centre, at Swanson Court, was identified as a close contact exposure site on Tuesday, August 17 between 11am and 5.20pm.
The ACT has recorded eight new cases of COVID-19, bringing the territory's outbreak to 102 total cases.
All the new cases were linked and none were infectious in the community, but the territory's chief health officer conceded a shift in the territory's reporting systems made Saturday's figure "artificially low".
Two people are in hospital, but they are there for unrelated issues. More than 14,600 people in Canberra have been identified as close contacts.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the news showed the territory was turning the corner, but warned against complacency.
"This is the lockdown working, but we are however starting to see exposure sites post the start of the lockdown," he said.
"This is a general warning to the community to please be careful when you're outside your home. The lockdown has significantly reduced the risk around new exposure sites, but there will still be some."
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
