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The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has achieved a national milestone today after announcing it no longer has any known active cases of COVID-19.
Since the pandemic began the territory has had three deaths from the coronavirus, but the remaining 103 people who tested positive have now recovered and have been released from self-isolation.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman welcomes the news but cautions the community that the pandemic is still ongoing.
"Today marks the first time in seven weeks our territory has no active cases of COVID-19 and this is because of the strong work the community is doing to stop this virus," says Dr Coleman.
"I want to thank you for practising physical distancing and making these huge changes to your daily life. Today's news is exactly why we have put these measures into place.
"However, it is important to stress that we should still protect the good work we have done. Please continue to follow ACT Health directives and practise good hygiene as we continue help fight this virus together."
She says tomorrow will mark one week since the territory government expanded testing criteria to help get a better view of the situation in the community.
"Even though we have no active cases at the moment, it's vitally important that we continue testing as many people with symptoms as possible to know the most accurate representation of COVID-19 within the ACT community," she says.
"I ask everyone who is showing symptoms, or believes they may have symptoms, to get tested as soon as possible at either the drive through testing facility at the EPIC Showground, at the walk-in clinic at Weston Creek, or by contacting their general practitioner.
"We are in an excellent position in the ACT and we have the capacity to test anyone who has symptoms, regardless of if they were in contact with people who had COVID-19 or not."
All people who are tested are required to self-isolate until they receive a negative test result.
The news comes after South Australia yesterday reported no new daily cases of the virus for the seventh straight day. This has been followed up today with another day of no new cases in the state.
"There's 438 cases of COVID-19 that have been diagnosed in South Australia, but only 14 active cases - 96 per cent of people have recovered," says SA Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier.
"We have no patients now in South Australia in intensive care. There are three people in hospital and that's one less than yesterday."
No new cases were reported today in Queensland, Western Australia or the Northern Territory, where the territory government has set the wheels in motion for easing restrictions with a roadmap to recovery. One new case has been reported in Tasmania today, along with seven in Victoria and two in NSW.
There are now 944 reported active cases of COVID-19 in Australia, while 5,717 have recovered and 91 people have died as a result of the virus.
Updated at 2:58pm AEST on 30 April 2020.
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