The state’s transitional lockdown restrictions are on track to cease from midnight tomorrow, but a 72-hour hard border with Victoria will be enforced from tonight.
The state’s transitional lockdown restrictions are on track to cease from midnight tomorrow as Western Australia records its 12th day with no new locally acquired cases of COVID 19, but a 72-hour hard border with Victoria will be enforced from tonight.
WA chief health officer Andrew Robertson advised the state government that the 14-day incubation period for the virus was on track to run its course without any new cases, and that it was safe to cease the restrictions.
Restrictions will revert back to what had been enforced prior to the five-day lockdown on January 31, including capacity rules for major venues, mandatory contact tracing registrations and restricted travel to remote Aboriginal communities.
Premier Mark McGowan did, however, indicate that the state government would enforce a 72-hour hard border with Victoria from 6pm this evening as the total number of cases associated with Melbourne’s Holiday Inn outbreak grows to 13.
The state will now move to medium risk, with those travelling from Victoria to Perth Airport today required to undergo a COVID test before 14 days of quarantine.
With NSW due to reach 28 days of no community transmission, the WA government has decided to reopen to that state from 12:01am on February 16, pending no further cases.
Travellers will be required to obtain a G2G pass and undergo a health review upon arrival.
Almost 95,000 COVID tests have been conducted since the Perth metropolitan, Peel and South West regions went into a five-day lockdown late last month 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.
Mr McGowan congratulated Western Australians on their efforts over what had been a challenging two weeks and said the state’s response to the outbreak demonstrated the strength of its contact tracing systems and regional border controls.
"I've read a lot about the Spanish Flu in 1919, and the only thing that worked was restricting movement," he said.
"The restrictions that we enforced were draconian.
"We put in the measures we had to and we haven't had any new community cases; for that, we are grateful."
