One dead as COVID cases climb by 6,062
You can purchase access to this special report or subscribe to Business News.
Subscribe to Business News.
Western Australia has reported a record 6,062 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours, as a woman in her 80s became the fifth COVID-related fatality in the past month.
In a statement released this morning, Premier Mark McGowan confirmed the state’s total number of cases had climbed to 28,772.
More than 86 per cent of those cases are based in the Perth metropolitan area.
A total of 123 COVID-19 positive patients are currently being treated in hospital, two of whom are now in ICU.
More than half of the cases reported today were confirmed via self-reported positive rapid antigen tests.
Today’s daily caseload continues the upward trajectory foreshadowed by the state’s chief health officer and Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, with the Omicron peak expected later this week.
State government health modelling suggests the peak will bring with it daily caseloads of more than 10,000, resulting in 443 COVID positive patients being hospitalised, 56 being placed in ICU and three deaths per day.
Meanwhile, the state's third dose vaccination rate continues to climb, with 71.1 per cent of Western Australians aged 16 and over having received their booster.