Chief Minister Andrew Barr found himself in a brighter spotlight than usual on Tuesday, as the national focus turned to Canberra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Prime Minister's return to the territory after a weekend Father's Day trip saw the ACT's daily coronavirus update commandeered by questions about the exemption granted to Scott Morrison to reenter.
Unable to wrest back attention to Canberra's outbreak, he did so when speaking to ABC's 7.30 program on Tuesday evening.
"Even in a city like Canberra, in a community like Canberra, we have been able to get about 85 per cent of our cases linked and linked pretty quickly," Mr Barr said.
"But there are still mystery cases even in a community that's not quite half a million people."
READ MORE COVID-19 NEWS:
- ACT records 19 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday
- Sites from 10 suburbs across ACT added to exposure list
- Scott Morrison rejects 'low blow' criticism of Father's Day lockdown dash
- Hotspot traveller in COVID breach claims she tried to help distressed friend
- ACT health authorities encourage pregnant women to get the Pfizer jab
- 'Excellent compliance' as Canberrans abide by lockdown rules: police
Speaking on state plans to hit 70-80 per cent vaccination rates of those aged 16 and over, "this really comes down to a critical, probably two to four weeks," he said.
"That's the period of greatest risk where the test, trace, isolate and quarantine capability - TTIQ - will not be as effective," Mr Barr said.
The TTIQ jargon has become a feature of daily updates, where he refers to a three-point response that also covers public health measures and vaccination.
On when that period would be: "I think it's going to vary across the nation, in NSW, ACT and Victoria, it could well be October, November into early December."
"For some other states it might be more November and December."
Mr Barr also highlighted the elements of Canberra's outbreak that had caused most concern for leaders.
"Vulnerable communities, public housing, community housing, homelessness shelters people who were sleeping rough becoming infected," he said.
He spoke of the hundreds of frontline health workers, police, emergency services and government officials who were impacted by isolate and quarantine mandates as contact tracers scrambled to identify exposure sites.
He called the national cabinet meetings of the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders "a net positive".
"It's been a moderating influence on some of the PM's early instincts."
"It's also helped to allow premiers and chief ministers to discuss issues, to moderate each other a little," he said.
"Not fully, clearly," he added.
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:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram