The ACT has reported 506 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, but the number of people hospitalised with the virus has remained the same.
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The new cases, reported in the 24-hour period to 8pm on Saturday, bring the active total to 1827.
The number of cases is the highest daily total for the ACT since the start of the pandemic, beating the previous highest daily total on New Year's Eve, when 462 cases were reported.
There were nine people in hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19 at 8pm on Saturday, with one person in intensive care receiving ventilation.
On Friday, there were also nine people in hospital because of COVID, the highest number of patients since the end of October. None of them at that time were in intensive care, and none were being ventilated.
There were 3101 negative tests received in the 24 hours to 9am on Sunday. There were 3141 negative tests received in the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the 98.5 per cent of the eligible population are fully vaccinated.
The ACT is considering how it will distribute rapid antigen tests to at-risk communities, amid concerns the fast escalation in COVID-19 case numbers will have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged demographics.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the ACT would not be evenly felt across the Canberra community.
"I'm particularly mindful that there are going to be groups of people in our community who will see others accessing the freedoms that we have, with eased restrictions, and their response, because they see themselves rightly as more vulnerable to COVID-19 and to exposure and to severe illness, will actually be pulling back on their engagement in the community and in society," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"That is something I think we really need to take account of. We are going to be consistently focused, as we have been, on ensuring that we are protecting the most vulnerable settings."
Around Australia
NSW reported 18,278 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24-hour period to 8pm on Saturday, from 90,019 tests. The total number of cases was a decline on the previous day, when 22,577 cases were reported.
However, the test positivity rate for the cases reported on Sunday was larger than Saturday. Roughly 19 per cent of tests in NSW were positive in Saturday's update, compared with more than 20 per cent in Sunday's figures.
Two people died in NSW and 1066 were in hospital, up from 901 the day before. There were 83 people in intensive care with COVID-19 in the state.
Victoria reported 7172 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and three deaths. The state is managing 31,461 active cases, 472 people in hospital, and performed 48,252 coronavirus tests on Saturday. There were 22 people requiring ventilation in Victoria.
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