After almost two years, Western Australia will ease its hard border restrictions and reconnect with the rest of the world from 12:01am on February 5.
After almost two years, Western Australia will ease its hard border restrictions and reconnect with the rest of the world from 12:01am on February 5 after reaching a second dose vaccination rate of 80 per cent today.
Under the state government's safe transition plan, the border will be removed from February 5, when the state is expected to reach a double dose vaccination rate of 90 per cent for those over the age of 12.
All domestic arrivals into WA must be double vaccinated unless medically exempt and undergo a PCR test 72 hours prior to departure, while international arrivals will also be required to return a negative test within 72 hours prior to departure and upon arrival.
International arrivals who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine, but those not yet vaccinated will be required to complete 14 days in a hotel or state-run quarantine facility and will be prohibited from attending mass gatherings, events and concerts.
There will also be a cap placed on unvaccinated international arrivals, one significantly lower than that for international arrivals currently.
In making today’s long-awaited announcement, Premier Mark McGowan said he was confident in the safe transition plan and the state’s capacity to begin a new phase of pandemic response.
He said the plan would 'reward' the vaccinated and urged those not yet vaccinated to 'do the right thing', warning the virus would inevitably make its way into WA.
“When the virus comes into the state, and it will, it will have a devastating impact,” he said.
“I would implore those not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated.
“It’s time to get vaccinated - it’s just common sense.
"This is an incredible milestone for the state and it's one we've achieved without having virus outbreaks, extended lockdowns and cases of community transmission."
Health Minister Roger Cook echoed those sentiments, warning that WA's blissful COVID-free bubble was about to burst.
"Our strategy has been very effective, and it has saved lives," he said.
"But from February 5, COVID will come into our state.
"Western Australians are in for a real shock - we're going to be living with COVID-19.
"You only have to look to the eastern states to see how devastating it can be, but we're prepared for its arrival."
The announcement follows a meeting of the emergency management team this morning, and the state reaching a first dose vaccination rate of 89.1 per cent for those over the age of 12 and second dose rate of 80 per cent.
During today’s press conference, Mr McGowan also flagged the reintroduction of a suite of restrictions when the transition begins, with mask wearing on public transport and in health care facilities and capacity limits for various venues.
From January, the WA government will release a new app which will be updated to include new QR codes and the individual's vaccination status.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Chris Rodwell welcomed the announcement, having lobbied on behalf of the business community for greater clarity to address uncertainty and ongoing labour shortages.
"The clarification of a date will begin to ease the uncertainty, supply chain delays, higher costs and chronic worker shortages experienced by WA businesses and the economy during this pandemic," he said.
"We note the Premier’s determination to open on February 5 whether or not the 90 per cent threshold is met, which reduces uncertainty for businesses and households and better enables investment and business planning.
"The chamber looks forward to working closely with the government to advance this plan, and important initiatives like the WA Jobs Taskforce and Reconnect WA.
"Our state will need to continuously improve conditions for diversification, the restoration of impacted industries and strongly signal the reopening of our economy."
The state’s COVID transition plan was announced last month based on health modelling, which suggested as many as 200 fewer Western Australians would die of COVID-19 if the state waited until 90 per cent to reopen rather than opening at 80 per cent in December.
According to the modelling, the difference between an 80 and 90 per cent vaccination rate, with widespread community transmission, is a reduction in daily hospitalisations from 178 to 54.
At 90 per cent, the number of general ward and ICU beds occupied are reduced by up to 75 per cent, with the cumulative number of deaths reduced by 63 per cent.
