The ACT won’t ease its COVID-19 lockdown restrictions ahead of schedule, despite NSW bringing forward some of its freedoms.

The Territory’s health minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith, said the easing of NSW’s lockdown on Monday would bring about more COVID-19 cases in regional areas just over the ACT border.

She said it would also lead a greater number of admissions for the virus in ACT hospitals from residents in regional NSW.

“We’re going to have to wait and see a little bit around what it means for us. We are most focused on what this means for our local region,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when those restrictions are lifted, combined with a relatively high vaccination rate.”

Of the 15 people currently in ACT hospitals with COVID-19, one-third are from areas in regional NSW.

Meanwhile, the ACT has outlined its plan for federal MPs to arrive in Canberra ahead of the next sitting fortnight, slated to begin later this month.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said MPs and staff who were fully vaccinated will not need to do two weeks of quarantine ahead of the sitting.

However, those who are not vaccinated will still be subject to 14 days in isolation.

Health authorities in the ACT are planning for a surge in COVID cases being presented to hospitals in coming weeks as the Territory looks to ease restrictions.

Canberra’s lockdown is forecast to end on October 15.

“We’re planning for a growing number of patients, and over the next few weeks we expect to have around 30 COVID patients in hospital and around 10 in ICU,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“Part of the planning work is where we can establish ICU satellite wards and not just for COVID patients.”

The ACT has continued with its high vaccination rates, with the most recent figures showing 96 per cent of over-12s have received their first dose of the vaccine, the highest rate in the country.

Meanwhile, 67.2 per cent of the same age group are fully vaccinated.

Despite the high vaccine number, Ms Stephen-Smith said virus case numbers in Canberra were higher than expected, given the level of immunisation coverage.

The ACT had one of its highest days for new cases, with 41 reported on Thursday, and just 14 of them linked to known cases.

Among the new cases reported was a second baby at a special care nursery at Canberra’s Centenary Hospital.

The cluster linked to the nursery now stands at five, which include a hospital worker and two visitors.

Investigations are still ongoing into what started the outbreak at the special care nursery.

Ms Stephen-Smith said there were 28 healthcare workers at the hospital that had been forced into quarantine due to the outbreak.

AAP

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