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Man in his 90s dies with COVID-19 as ACT records 299 new cases

A Canberra man in his 90s has died with COVID-19 as the ACT recorded 299 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The ACT has now recorded 29 COVID-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic at a death rate of 0.075 per cent.

Hospitalisations from COVID-19 have decreased in the past day, with 57 people now being treated with the virus. Of those, two are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator.

Of the 299 new cases, 123 were confirmed via a PCR test and 176 by RAT testing. Today’s figure broke yesterday’s record as the lowest daily case numbers recorded in the ACT during 2022.

The ACT now has 2,406 active cases (1,334 PCR and 1,072 RAT), with 38,698 cases (29,116 PCR and 9,582 RAT) recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

More than half (54.7 per cent) of ACT residents aged 18 and over have received a booster shot, while 98.6 per cent of residents aged 12 and over are “fully vaccinated” with two shots.

Over 73 per cent of ACT children aged five to 11 years have now received one dose.

The new figures come as the ACT government moved to scale back its contact tracing app, with Canberrans now no longer required to use a QR code to check in to every venue.

The Check In CBR app will only be required to be used at high-risk venues.

From Saturday, checking in using the app will only be required at bars and pubs, clubs, nightclubs, strip clubs and brothels, organised events that aren’t ticketed, as well as schools.

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the changes were made due to an evolving COVID-19 response in the ACT.

“We’re in a new phase of our pandemic response and using the Check In CBR app differently will support those most at risk of exposure, while reducing the requirements placed on other businesses, venues and customers,” she said.

“These changes mean we’re still able to monitor places where our public health team considers there is a high risk of COVID-19 transmission.”

Businesses that aren’t on the list of high-risk locations will now no longer be required to display a QR code for check in at their entrance.

However, businesses will still be encouraged to display the codes for Canberrans who want to record where they check in during the pandemic.

“The app is currently being updated to enable automatic notification of users if they have been at a higher risk setting during a COVID-19 exposure,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“With the automated exposure notification function, Check In CBR will continue to be a critical tool in our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

More than 1.3 million people have downloaded the app since it was first released in September 2020.

Newstate Media with AAP

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