Australian capital hit by new COVID-19 wave: health authorities

By Trend

Health authorities in Australia's capital Canberra have warned of a new wave of coronavirus infections, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith revealed that modeling has indicated the territory is currently experiencing another wave of COVID-19 infections.

"We are seeing those case numbers starting to increase and we expect that is potentially the start of another wave of COVID-19 through this winter period into July and potentially into early August," she was quoted as saying by the Canberra Times on Tuesday.

"We are conscious of that and we are keeping a close eye on the case numbers to see if that trajectory is going to be maintained."

It comes after the ACT set a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations.

There were 121 people infected with the COVID-19 virus being treated in ACT hospitals, marking the highest number since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest update on Tuesday.

The government said an outbreak in a cancer ward at Canberra Hospital had contributed to the increase.

Paul Craft, clinical director of the ward, said that authorities were still investigating how COVID-19 had spread in the ward.

"It's been a little difficult to track where the virus has spread through the population since then, we're still working on that," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio.

"It will probably be a long time before it's exactly clear how the outbreak occurred."

As of Monday afternoon, a total of 8,023,259 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 9,704 deaths, and approximately 226,653 active cases, according to the federal Department of Health.

There were 3,133 cases being treated in hospitals nationwide on Monday including 111 in intensive care.

On Tuesday, Australia reported more than 30,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 70 deaths.