A diplomat aged in his seventies is the first coronavirus case in Canberra for more than 100 days.
ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman said the man returned from overseas on October 9, flying into Sydney before travelling to Canberra in a private vehicle.
He has been quarantining since his return to the ACT and recorded a positive test on day 10.
"Therefore we believe this is an overseas-acquired infection," she told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
ACT health officials are looking into two contacts of the man.
Dr Coleman said the risk of other Canberrans having been exposed was very low.
"We absolutely know of every diplomat who enters the ACT," she said.
She said all diplomats entered into a quarantine support program and were subject to police checks.
There are 276 people in quarantine in the ACT, about a quarter of whom are returning diplomats.
Dr Coleman said she was surprised how long it had taken for a case to emerge, given the rise in cases overseas.
"This is a demonstration that our quarantine program is doing exactly what we want it to do," she said.
Australian Associated Press
