Patients infected with COVID-19 took up 15 per cent of the city's hospital beds earlier this week — the highest level recorded during the pandemic.
ACT hospitals are on the cusp of an "amber" alert as Canberra's COVID-19 outbreak grows and more residents require hospitalisation.Infected patients took up 12 per cent of Canberra hospital beds this week, the highest level yet
The ACT's trend COVID-19 ward occupancy rate was lower, at 12 per cent, though this was significantly higher than all other states and territories.National Cabinet says an infection occupancy rate of 15 to 30 per cent of hospital beds is an amber-level clinical scenario.ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the influx of infected patients was "very worrying", though interstate comparisons were not necessarily useful.
"Another positive as we go into next month is we've probably seen the flu-season peak, and we'll probably start to see a reduction in flu cases," she told ABC Radio Canberra.New South Wales hospitals reached similar levels in summer, while the Northern Territory experienced a red alert during its severe outbreak in February.Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith is urging Canberrans to help reduce the spread of the disease.
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