Ms Stephen-Smith said health authorities in the ACT were aware of a Victorian system, announced on Thursday, and would seek to make the territory's system consistent with surrounding larger states.

"If we're going to make an assumption that people with a positive rapid antigen test, who are either close contacts or are symptomatic, do in fact have COVID-19, it is then important that we provide an opportunity for those people to register that result, and to do a short questionnaire to know whether we need to provide some follow-up support to that person," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

The ACT reported 992 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. There are now 20 people in hospital in Canberra receiving treatment for COVID, including two people in intensive care and two requiring ventilation.

Meanwhile, a Canberra man in his 20s died from COVID-19 in a Sydney hospital, despite having had two vaccination doses and no underlying health conditions.

NSW Health on Thursday said the man died at St Vincent's Hospital. He was one of six people to die from COVID-19 in the latest reporting period.

Ms Stephen-Smith extended her sympathies to the man's family and friends.

Students are still expected to return to on-campus learning at ACT government schools at the start of term 1 next month, an ACT government spokeswoman said on Thursday.

More than 19,000 children in the ACT aged between 12 and 15 have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, which was 95.5 per cent of the cohort, the spokeswoman said.

"At this stage the ACT government is not considering remote learning, but will continue to monitor developments and act on the latest health advice," the spokeswoman said.

However, there are no plans to return teachers to the classroom during their quarantine periods following exposures to COVID-19.

"This is not currently part of the Education Directorate's plan to manage schools in the pandemic," the spokeswoman said.

The ACT government has still not been advised to consider tightening restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman on Wednesday said she would consider recommending gathering limits if the situation worsened.

"It's a really difficult position we're in at the moment, because we're doing that fine balancing where we really want to encourage and keep things going but we're also very aware that we're starting to see those impacts on the health system," Dr Coleman said at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Ms Stephen-Smith on Thursday defended changes to COVID-19 exposure classifications, which will mean more Canberrans need to self-assess their risk of contracting the virus.

COVID-19 contacts were classified as high, moderate or low-risk from 11.59pm on Wednesday, dropping previous close and casual contact definitions.

"If you have COVID, you don't want to be giving it to somebody else," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"If you think you've got COVID, or you think you're at risk of having been exposed to COVID, you're going to want to act in a way that's going to protect everybody around you.

"People, I think, are going to work in a precautionary way rather than in a laissez-faire way."

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