1400 ACT residents declare Sydney hotspot travel

[Neferti]

1400 ACT residents declare Sydney hotspot travel

About 1400 Canberrans have declared they must abide by stay-at-home orders for the next week, while residents are facing testing wait times of more than three hours.

Since stay-at-home requirements were imposed on people returning from seven council areas of Sydney from 4pm Wednesday, ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said about 1400 Canberrans had self-declared that they fell into that cohort.

She said that number seemed "quite high", adding ACT Health would review the declarations to advise people if they had been "a little bit cautious".

"We would much prefer that people are more cautious," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"ACT Health will let you know if you have actually been overly cautious and you are not subject to stay at home retirements."

NSW reported a further 11 cases on Thursday bringing the number of cases linked to the Bondi cluster to 36.

The outbreak interstate has led to a huge spike in demand for coronavirus tests in Canberra with residents facing a three-hour wait at the EPIC drive-through centre on Thursday.

Ms Stephen-Smith said about 100 people had been waiting at the Weston Creek site.

It has prompted ACT Health to extend opening hours at EPIC to 6.30pm Thursday. It will open from 7am to 6.30pm Friday.

The Weston Creek walk-in centre is open from 7.30am to 10pm every day.

"It's a very busy time right across the health system at the moment, so we think that we will be okay with the two facilities we have at the moment for testing," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"Plan ahead if you're going to get testing [and] recognise there is likely to be a bit of a wait.

"Take some food, some water and if you've got kids with you please take something for them to play with, that will really make your life a lot easier."

Ms Stephen-Smith made a plea to the community and businesses not to be complacent as the Sydney situation unfolded.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14329