The state has recorded its ninth consecutive day with no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, according to Premier Mark McGowan.
The state has recorded its ninth consecutive day with no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, according to Premier Mark McGowan.
More than 72,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the past nine days after a security guard at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Perth's CBD contracted the highly contagious UK strain of the virus from a returned overseas traveller late last month.
The man visited several locations across the Perth metropolitan area in the days after it is believed he became contagious, prompting a five-day lockdown of the Perth metropolitan, Peel and South West regions.
Health authorities identified and tested all 526 of the security guard’s contacts, all of whom have now been tested for the virus and placed in quarantine.
Provided the state continues to record no new locally acquired cases, the transitional easing of restrictions, enforced while the state waits for the virus’s 14-day incubation period, are expected to be in place until 12:01am this Sunday, February 14.
How the man contracted the virus remains the subject of an ongoing investigation by public health officials and WA Police, with a full report expected this week.
This afternoon, opposition leader Zak Kirkup confirmed he would be requesting a briefing from chief health officer Andy Robertson on the report under the state's caretaker conventions.
Mr Kirkup said he would continue to stand by and support the chief health officer’s advice, including when it came to revising the state’s interstate border and travel restrictions.
“In my meetings with the chief health officer, he has indicated that it would likely be the end of the year before most Western Australians have been vaccinated,” he said.
“I think the vaccine rollout is going to be a significant challenge; one of the most complex logistical tasks we’ve ever embarked on as governments, both state and federal, and we want to make sure we get that right.
“The Liberal Party stands by the advice of our public health experts and we’ll do whatever we can to work constructively with the government to get that rollout right and to help keep Western Australians safe.”
