Canberra and Surrounds Becomes Australia’s Most Vaccinated Jurisdiction

Crowds watch as Skywhalepapa is inflated in front of the Australian Parliament House next to the original Skywhale on February 07, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is now Australia’s most vaccinated jurisdiction with more than 87 percent of all Canberrans aged 12 or over double jabbed.

The territory’s latest new case count also dipped to single figures for the first time in a month on Sunday, with only nine COVID-19 infections reported.

A sign reading “Go straight home and Isolate” at the exit of a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Highpoint shopping center in Melbourne, Australia, on July 4, 2020. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

However, the result coincides with testing numbers falling away, with just 991 samples processed in the 24 hours to Saturday evening.

It was the first time less than a thousand tests have been conducted in the ACT since the start of the outbreak.

Two weeks ago, more than 3500 tests were being conducted on a Saturday.

Nurses test a patient at the ACT's drive-through COVID-19 testing site in Canberra, Australia on May 1, 2020. Rohan Thomson/Getty Images

The drop-off is likely due to changes in exposure location reporting since the territory began easing restrictions.

As of Sunday evening, the ACT had 390 active cases from the 1586 infections reported for this current outbreak.

There were 20 virus patients in Canberra hospitals, including 11 in intensive care units and four requiring ventilation.

ACT Health is expected to provide a full epidemiological update on the COVID-19 situation on Tuesday.