One person has died from COVID in the past week, according to new figures from the ACT government.
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The health department reported there were 488 cases registered in the week to this Friday. Of those, 26 were in hospital but none on a ventilator or in intensive care.
The numbers understate the extent of the infections because they do not record those people who get COVID and just stay at home. They only include those who get in contact with the health system by going to a GP or hospital or by getting the test at a clinic (rather than with the home kits).
The numbers are pretty much the same as the week before as the new wave of COVID moves through the ACT. New cases were slightly down (488 to 582 last week) but hospitalisations were up (from 15 last week to this week's 26).
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said a week ago that there were no plans to introduce COVID restrictions. ACT Health said there was no indication that a rise in cases was linked to more severe disease.
Epidemiologists said that one of the reasons for the current recurrence is that some people have not renewed their vaccinations.
They may have assumed that COVID had been and gone. It has not gone away - and may never do so, according to experts. They belive it may become like flu with new variants each year, and new vaccines to try to head the new variants off.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
