The ACT has recorded 28 new cases of COVID-19, with 21 people in hospital. There are 10 people in intensive care, eight of whom require ventilation.  

Lockdown restrictions in Canberra are due to ease from 11.59pm on Thursday as vaccination rates continue to rise in the national capital. The “snap” lockdown was enacted on 12 August when one case was recorded in the ACT.

More than 83 per cent of the ACT’s eligible population are now fully vaccinated.

All retail will be allowed to open with density limits of one person per four square metres.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith is due to face an ACT assembly inquiry today, just a day after she announced a vaccine mandate for disability support workers and community-based aged care workers.

Under the mandate, staff in these sectors will need to have a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by November 1 and be fully vaccinated by November 29.

It follows similar developments in NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory. 

The mandate also allows eligible disability providers in the ACT to claim $100 per worker per jab through the National Disability Insurance Agency.

The payment can be claimed retrospectively and is in place to help cover additional costs disability support providers incur in enabling their staff to get vaccinated.

Almost nine in 10 screened disability workers under the NDIS in the ACT have had one dose, and more than eight in 10 were fully vaccinated as of October 18.

There are 425 active cases in the ACT. The total number of cases for this outbreak is 1,540, and there have been eight COVID-related deaths, at least seven of whom were receiving end-of-life care for other conditions when they were diagnosed with Coronavirus. Those who died were aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

Canberra will likely reach the 99 per cent double dose vaccination threshold by the end of November. 

The ACT has decided to stop broadly reporting on people who were infectious in the community as vaccination coverage continues to rise. It will instead focus on cases of rapid transmission and areas where vulnerable people are likely to have been exposed. 

AAP, with Newstate Media

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