The ACT has recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19 since 8pm Friday, equal to the highest daily number recorded in the territory since the latest outbreak began.
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Seven cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious period and at least 24 were infectious in the community.
Of these, 24 cases have been linked to previous cases.
Ten patients are in hospital with COVID-19, four are in intensive care and three of these are in intensive care on ventilation.
In a concerning turn for authorities the cluster at the Calvary Haydon Retirement Village now stands at 12, with nine residents and three staff members.
Chief health officer Kerryn Coleman said 92 per cent of residents at the aged care facility were fully vaccinated.
A ward in the tower block of the Canberra Hospital has been declared a red zone after two cases were found in a shared ward dating back to September 18.
The infected person was a patient who came in for a surgical procedure and has been in the hospital since September 18.
The person presented as asymptomatic and it was only on Friday that a positive test result was returned.
As soon as the hospital became aware of the incident overnight on Friday, an incident management team was immediately activated to deal with the issue, with a thorough risk assessment undertaken.
Dave Peffer, the deputy chief executive officer of Canberra Health Services, said that the infected individual "was in a shared room with another person and overnight that person has also tested positive".
The affected ward has undergone a comprehensive clean and enhanced infectious control measures have been activated.
Mr Peffer said that "this incident is still evolving" and responses were still under way on Saturday.
"I can advise that since both positive cases were detected, both patients have been moved to our established COVID ward," he said.
"We are currently assessing extended risk to other patients or to our workforce."
"Patients and our team members are currently undergoing testing at the moment."
He said that this sort of incident was "not new" and the hospital's systems "always plan for this sort of incident to occur".
Watson cluster
Meanwhile, ACT Health has sent COVID testers to Watson with the north-Canberra suburb coming under the spotlight following a string of unlinked positive cases.
There have been 30 cases in Watson since the start of the outbreak, and more than half of those have been recorded in the past two weeks.
Concerns have grown around an outbreak at a Canberra aged care facility.
Two cases were earlier linked to the Haydon Retirement Community in Bruce, but authorities foreshadowed more cases connected to the facility would be recorded.
Wait times recorded at ACT COVID-19 testing clinics on Saturday morning were reported as follows:
- Drive Through COVID-19 Testing at Exhibition Park in Canberra: 30 minutes
- Gold Creek School Pop-up COVID-19 Testing Facility: minimal wait
- Drive Through COVID-19 Testing at Kambah: 1.5 hours
- COVID-19 Surge Centre at Garran: minimal wait
The new Watson pop-up COVID-19 testing facility opened from 8am Saturday morning with ACT health reporting "a steady flow of people visiting for testing, but there is still capacity for more testing for local residents".
Please note, testing sites may have extended waiting times today. If you are looking to get tested, please be prepared - bring water, snacks, and anything else you might need while you wait.
The full list of testing clinics in the ACT can be found at www.covid19.act.gov.au/testing-locations.
From the local region, four new COVID contact sites were reported on Saturday in Yass, two in Batemans Bay and one in Batehaven.
The new sites come after four new COVID cases were recorded in the NSW southern area region in the past 24 hours.
There have now been 98 cases across the southern zone since the Sydney outbreak began.
The new latest include Batehaven post office on Friday, September 10 (3.30pm to 4pm), Batemans Bay Centrelink on Thursday, September 9 (noon to 1pm) and the Commonwealth Bank on Friday, September 10 (2pm to 2.45pm).
Exposure sites in Yass have now been updated to include the Clubhouse Hotel (Saturday, September 11 from 3.20pm to 6pm and Monday September 13 from 1pm to 3.30pm), the Yass Soldiers Club (Saturday September 11 from 2pm to 4.20pm and Monday, September 13 from 5pm to 7.30pm), the Australian Hotel Motel (Saturday, September 11 from 6.45pm to 9.20pm), and the Yass Post Office (Monday, September 6, from 11.15am to 11.45am).
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