Australian Government Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly has today extended the current Hotspot for the purposes of Commonwealth support for the Australian Capital Territory until 11:59pm on 17 September 2021, with review on or before this date.
Cases continue to be reported in the ACT, with cases infectious in the community posing ongoing exposure risk to the people within the ACT. There are also some earlier cases that have been unable to be linked, raising concerns for undetected chains of transmission in the community.
Professor Kelly reminds the community of the risk and requests they continue to follow the directions of the ACT Government.
Declaring a hotspot for Commonwealth support triggers, if required:
- Provision of PPE from the National Medical Stockpile
- Actions for aged care facilities including PPE, single site workforce supplement and integration of an aged care response centre into the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre
- Assistance with contact tracing
- Asymptomatic testing via General Practitioner led Respiratory Clinics
- Reprioritisation of vaccine supplies, if required
- Access to COVID-19 Disaster Payment, if eligibility criteria are met
- Two Medicare Benefits Schedule items for telehealth consultations for patients in COVID-19 hotspots.
- Support for childcare services, including additional allowable absences, gap fee waivers and support payments, if other eligibility criteria are met.
Read more about listing areas as COVID-19 hotspots.