Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government had been engaging with the grocery industry in the territory to ensure food was available to people in quarantine.

Mr Barr said community sector partners were continuing to deliver food to the most vulnerable people.

"Whilst there is nothing that is ever certain in a pandemic, and certainly in an outbreak, it would appear at least for this phase we have reached the peak of the number of people in quarantine," Mr Barr said on Thursday.

"Provided everything else goes well, that number will start to come down."

Supermarket giant Woolworths reported demand for its delivery services in the ACT had jumped by 50 per cent earlier this month, conceding the limited capacity was frustrating for customers.

Coles would not provide data but said it had experienced a "high level of demand".

Customers had reported facing significant delays to have groceries delivered, with slots booked out well in advance and suppliers struggling to keep up.

The ACT government had recommended people seek alternatives to large supermarkets, with smaller operators able to meet some demand for grocery delivery services.

Thousands of Canberrans are expected to be released from 14-day quarantine periods in the coming days, after the city marked 14 days in lockdown. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Vanessa Johnston said she could not provide an exact figure for the number of Canberrans due to be released from quarantine, but said it was in the thousands.

The high number of people in quarantine at the start of the outbreak was due to the large number of exposure sites at a time before there were restrictions on people's movements, Dr Johnston said.

READ MORE:

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith paid thanks to the Canberrans who had quarantined for two weeks as part of efforts to limit the spread of the outbreak.

"Quarantining is not easy. Thank you very, very much for doing this to protect the wider community from COVID-19," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

ACT Health has been working to process the release notifications for thousands of people in quarantine, who require a negative test result at the end of their quarantine period and a release notification.

Ms Stephen-Smith said people who had not heard from ACT Health about their release from quarantine should contact the health authority.

"Secondary household contacts will not be contacted separately by ACT Health. So if the close contact in your household is released from quarantine, you are also released from quarantine as a secondary household contact," she said.

"You will not receive a separate communication from ACT Health."

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: