ACT Health has identified eight new contacts relating to the most recent COVID-19 exposure sites revealed at Goulburn and Jervis Bay. 

The Canberra residents had been contacted via text messages overnight after checking into tracing apps more than a week earlier and were asked to enter quarantine on Wednesday (June 2).

A Melbourne man has since tested positive for the virus after first holidaying in Jervis Bay before visiting Trapper’s Bakery and Shell Coles Express Big Merino in Goulburn on May 24.

A further 27 casual contacts from the multiple locations have been urged to get tested and enter isolation until given a negative test or otherwise quarantine until further notice.

Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith has remained wary ahead of Canberrans looking to visit Victoria over the Queen’s Birthday weekend in little more than a week.

“Our advice remains that people really need to be really quite aware of what’s going on in the jurisdictions that they’re planning to visit,” she said.

“Just be really conscious that the situation can change at short notice.

“They must really follow the directions of the place that they’re going and avoid places where there is a known COVID-19 cluster outbreak.”

But Ms Stephen-Smith stopped short of any suggestions of cancelling a Victorian holiday.

“We don’t have any specific travelling advice (on cancelling),” she said.

The recent Victorian outbreak that has broached the ACT has seen a significant increase in demand for testing.

ACT Health has counted 839 negative tests in last 24 hours up until Wednesday afternoon within its two Canberra testing locations.

Waiting times for a test has taken somewhere from an hour and 90 minutes, but concerned ACT residents can make appointments at the Commonwealth-run Tuggeranong respiratory assessment clinic to save waiting and anxiety.

The ACT directorate and chief medical officer are expected to have more to say ahead in the coming days.

“It will really depend on what the outcome of that contract tracing is,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“If we do start to see some positive cases coming out of that testing of people who have been in those exposure locations, well that could potentially indicate that we are clearly going to see further exposure locations associated with that.”