WA has reported its sixth consecutive day of no new coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says coronavirus restrictions are costing the Australian economy $4 billion each week. The National Cabinet is expected to ease some restrictions on Friday.
Roger Cook says WA has made great strides in coronavirus recoveries. Photo: Gabriel Oliveira
- Western Australia has reported its sixth consecutive day of zero new coronavirus infections, leaving the state’s total at 551. It is the thirteenth time WA has recorded zero new cases since February 21.
- One person has recovered from the virus overnight, reducing the state’s active cases to 14. Of these, 10 are Western Australians, one is from interstate and three are from the Artania cruise ship. There is only one active COVID-19 case in regional WA, in the Goldfields.
- It has been 23 days since the state recorded a locally-acquired coronavirus infection that could not be traced from a known contact or to overseas.
- Seven COVID-19 patients remain in Perth metropolitan hospitals, of which three are in intensive care. There are now 528 people in the state who have recovered from the virus, representing 95 per cent of all cases in WA.
- Health Minister Roger Cook said the state has made “great strides” in recoveries. “We’ve had an outstanding result in relation to the number of new cases,” he said. “Zero is a terrific place to be in, but with that comes an obligation to try and get Western Australians back to work.”
- Mr Cook says the state government is continuously informed of the best health advice when it comes to easing the state’s coronavirus restrictions.
- “The chief health officer has given us a clear message: that we can release some of these restrictions but we have to do so in small, modest steps,” Mr Cook told reporters. “Now with six days of zero new cases, we can now be much more confident in those steps that we take. We now have to look at how we can responsibly step forward.”
- The second week of Term 2 has recorded a 71.5 per cent average attendance rate for public schools across the state. The average attendance rate across regional WA public schools was 69 per cent.
- The National Cabinet is working towards a decision to ease some of Australia’s coronavirus restrictions and will meet again on Friday to make an announcement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today.
- Mr Morrison said the restrictions were costing the Australian economy $4 billion each week, putting “enormous pressure” on the timetable to move Australia to a COVID-safe economy.
- The prime minister said more than 5 million Australians were due to receive the JobKeeper payment, while 1 million were out of work and on the JobSeeker payment. More than 1 million Australians have accessed their super.
- The National Cabinet met with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden to consider a trans-Tasman travel bubble, as part of Australia’s broader efforts to reopen the economy. Mr Morrison said the country’s initial focus would be to reopen state borders and a trans-Tasman travel zone would be “some time away.”
- Australian women are bearing the brunt of the initial economic impact of COVID-19, according to Financy’s Women’s Index, which rose by 0.4 percentage points over the March quarter. Financy says the pace of progress reflects the slowest start to a calendar year since 2015.
