A man in his 80s has died with COVID-19 in the ACT, health authorities announced on Thursday.
There were 1265 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the territory in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, the highest figure since the end of March.
Canberra hospitals were caring for 61 patients with COVID-19 at 8pm on Wednesday night, including three people in intensive care where one person was being ventilated.
The day before the ACT recorded 63 people in hospital and two in intensive care with one ventilated. ICU admissions remain steady.
The territory's pandemic case tally is now 96,854 cases. In the previous reporting period there were 1180 cases recorded for the territory.
The tally for COVID-19-related deaths in the capital is now 48.
The ACT now has 5489 active cases of coronavirus, up from 5192 reported in the previous period. Of the new cases, 706 were reported through PCR tests and 559 as a result of rapid tests.
Latest vaccination rates
The first-dose vaccination rate for children aged five to 11 is at 80.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, fully vaccinated people aged over five make up 96.7 per cent of the ACT population. The percentages have decreased from 98.7 per cent due to a revision in ACT Health's population estimate. The proportion of people triple-vaxxed rose to 74.7 per cent.
More than half of Canberrans may have already caught COVID
About half of Canberrans may have been infected with COVID-19, with experts suggesting official case numbers now significantly downplay the true extent of the virus's spread.
The real numbers associated with the COVID-19 outbreak in Canberra could be more than 200,000 cases in a city of 431,000 residents, as the testing and quarantine regime shifts to accept a greater risk of transmission.
The ACT is expected to make an announcement on Thursday about changes to household contact isolation requirements, with the territory likely to be brought into line with NSW and Victoria.
Around Australia
NSW has recorded 17,447 new COVID infections in the 24 hours to 8pm. There were 16 deaths and 1641 hospitalisations across the state. A total of 69 people are in intensive care.
Victoria has reported 11 deaths and 10,674 new cases. There were 444 COVID-19 cases in hospital and 27 in the ICU.
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