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ACT records COVID-19 case, days after declaring itself free of virus

The returned traveller is Canberra's first confirmed case since Anzac Day.

The returned traveller is Canberra's first confirmed case since Anzac Day.

A new case of coronavirus has been recorded in Canberra, four days after ACT Health declared the city free of known COVID-19 cases.

A total of 107 cases have been diagnosed in the ACT and there have been three deaths.

Until Monday, the most recent case of the virus recorded in the ACT was on Anzac Day.

Last week the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to announce it had no known active cases of COVID-19.

On Monday, ACT Health confirmed another case – a woman in her 20s, who contracted COVID-19 while overseas “some time ago”.

The ACT’s deputy chief health officer, Dr Vanessa Johnston, said she was confident there had been no risk to the broader ACT community.

“This individual was symptomatic while overseas and then spent 14 days in self-quarantine after returning home,” she said.

“They were not tested during their self-quarantine period because their symptoms had resolved prior to their return to Australia.”

Dr Johnston said the woman was tested after developing new cold-like symptoms and returned a “low-positive result”.

“Further testing has also confirmed the presence of a common respiratory virus,” she said.

Dr Johnson urged anyone with symptoms to get tested to give ACT Health a better chance of “identifying any undetected cases in the community.”

“While we are in a very good position here in the ACT, this is a good reminder that we will continue to see more cases,” she said.

Earlier on Monday, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr told ABC Radio Canberra that it was “almost inevitable” that there would be more cases.

“It will be an absolute miracle if there are no further COVID-19 cases in the ACT,” he said.

“The history of pandemics is they come in waves.”

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