The Australian Capital Territory will enter a week-long lockdown after the uncovering of a coronavirus case that was infectious in the community.
From 5pm on Thursday, Territorians will only be able to leave home for essential reasons: for work; healthcare, including to receive a COVID-19 vaccine; an hour of exercise each day; and to buy essential supplies.
Masks will be mandatory in the ACT, general retail will shut and hospitality venues will only be able to operate takeaway services.
The new case is a man in his 20s, who resides in Gungahlin, a northern suburb of Canberra.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the source of the infection remains unknown.
"This is the most serious public health risk that we have faced in the Territory this year, really since the beginning of the pandemic," he told reporters on Thursday.
COVID-19 has also been detected in wastewater.
The ACT has remained largely untouched by COVID-19 since its last locally acquired case in July last year.
Mr Barr said he had spoken with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Canberrans would be eligible for Commonwealth COVID-19 disaster payments and business support arrangements.
A number of exposure sites have been identified, which are now listed on the ACT government's website, with people who attended these venues at certain times required to quarantine for 14 days and get tested.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said the lockdown had been called to quickly clamp down on any potential community spread of the virus.
"We need to be able to work with the situation, and we need to be able to get everybody to stop moving around," she said.
Dr Coleman indicated there would likely be many close contacts to the confirmed case.
"This is one of the reasons why we are very concerned about this situation and why we have gone to implementing a lockdown," she said.
Testing capacity will also be ramped up across the ACT with a new drive-through clinic to be established at Brindabella Business Park in the Canberra airport precinct.
Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry said parents have also been requested to keep their children at home rather than attending school.
"If you are an essential worker, if you are experiencing vulnerability, or if for some other reason you can't keep your children at home, then your children can still attend the local public school," she told reporters.
Public schools will spend this week preparing for a potential transition to remote learning should the lockdown be extended.
"We are fully prepared and our teachers are ready to move to remote learning, should that circumstance arise," Ms Berry said.
Upcoming sitting weeks up in the air
Mr Barr said it was currently unclear what the lockdown would mean for the next sitting of federal parliament scheduled for 23 August.
"A starting principle is you want your democracy to continue to function, but it really must be done in a safe way," he said.
"It is too early to say at this point what the next parliamentary fortnight will look like and whether it may or may not need to be postponed."
He said federal politicians would have to themselves consider whether to return to their electorates.
"Clearly there will be some decisions that individual MPs will need to make in relation to what they do during this lockdown period," he said.
"For many going home would be back into a lockdown as well."
With AAP.
ACT to enter lockdown after recording first local COVID-19 case in over a year - SBS News
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