Fully vaccinated close contacts will now be able to exit quarantine after seven days if they return a negative result from day five, if they have no COVID symptoms.

"What that means for some people is, you won't be notified that you are a close contact until about day four after exposure," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"In that case, you can choose to wait and delay your initial test until day five and then if that test comes back negative, you'll be able to leave quarantine at the end of day seven.

"You will still need to have another test on day 12 or 13 of your exposure and after your exposure and until day 14 you should continue to minimise your movement in the community."

Close contacts cannot visit high-risk settings - such as aged care homes and hospitals - until 14 days after the last exposure.

As Canberra testing sites continue to see long lines, Canberrans who are close contacts, have symptoms or have travelled internationally, were prioritised at the Garran and Mitchell testing sites from 11am to 3pm on Monday.

"Anecdotally, our teams are reporting that around 50 per cent of people who are coming forward to get tested are coming forward for travel reasons," she said.

"The team will assess how this has worked today, and perhaps make some changes for tomorrow or the coming days."

MORE COVID NEWS:

The ACT has reached a new daily record with 189 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, almost double the 71 cases announced on Boxing Day.

The previous record of 142 cases was announced on Christmas Day. There is one person in hospital because of COVID: they are not in intensive care.

Ms Stephen-Smith said on Boxing Day, more than 3860 swabs were taken by ACT Health and Capital Pathology staff. She said as of noon Monday, they had completed 1580 tests.

Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry said rising case numbers were expected to continue over the holidays.

"We are expecting an increase in these case numbers," Ms Berry said.

"We knew that there would be fluctuations in these numbers, and we're expecting to see that over the Christmas and new year period and that's because of the increased movement of people around our city."

She also said Canberrans needed to wear masks "properly" inside and not around their neck like a necklace.

"I've noticed it myself, that people are wearing it around their necks like a necklace. That is not going to work as COVID is in our community," she said.

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