PEOPLE currently in quarantine in the ACT after visiting the Central Coast, Wollongong and some areas of greater Sydney will be able to end their quarantine period early. 

ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman announced these changes this afternoon (January 12) saying some people in quarantine will be able to end their quarantine period at 3pm. This will see a 75 per cent reduction of people in quarantine who have come from NSW.

These people will be informed of this change via SMS and email from ACT Health, Dr Coleman said.

However, she said a public health direction will remain in place for certain areas of Western and south-western Sydney which present the highest risk of COVID-19 transmission.

People who have been to the Northern Beaches, Blacktown (city), Burwood, Canada Bay (city), Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield (city), Inner West, Liverpool (city), Paramatta (city) and Strathfield municipality will still need to complete their quarantine period.

People currently in quarantine who need to remain in quarantine will also receive an SMS from ACT Health with advice, Dr Coleman said.

If Canberrans have been to these places, Dr Coleman said they can return to the ACT, but need to notify ACT Health of their intention to return via their online declaration form and enter quarantine for 14 days.

Non ACT residents are legally not permitted to enter the ACT without a valid exemption.

These restrictions will remain in place until January 19.

While the removal of some areas from the public health direction is a positive step forward, Dr Coleman said it’s not a sign to start lowering people’s guard.

“Although the situation in NSW has stabilised, there remain some areas that continue to see cases where NSW has been unable to detect a source or link to a known infection,” Dr Coleman said.

“While NSW continues to get on top of these clusters, these areas still pose a high enough risk to the ACT to retain the existing travel and quarantine requirements for anyone coming from these areas. We also urge people from these areas to not travel to the ACT at this time.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with our NSW counterparts.”

The news to end quarantine requirements for people who have been to Central Coast or Wollongong comes a day after Dr Coleman ended quarantine requirements early for people who had been in Brisbane.

Since, there has been one case connected to the hotel worker who has the UK strain of COVID-19, that has been reported recently.

“This is why it is so important that anyone who has recently returned from greater Brisbane remain alert. Please continue to check the Queensland Health website daily,” Dr Coleman said.