Large parts of Western Australia will be placed into a hard five-day lockdown after the state recorded its first locally acquired COVID-19 case in almost 10 months.
WA Premier Mark McGowan revealed the new case and lockdown measures during an emergency COVID-19 press conference today.
The whole Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the south-west region will head into lockdown from 6pm tonight until Friday.
"At midnight last night we received a positive COVID-19 test result. The positive result has come from a male hotel security guard in his 20s," he said.
"The information we have is fast evolving. As you can understand, immediately, our teams moved into place to begin contact tracing and put in place emergency response systems."
Four reasons to leave your home in lockdown regions
- Shopping for essentials like groceries, medicine and necessary supplies.
- Medical or health care needs including compassionate requirements and looking after the vulnerable.
- Exercise, within their neighbourhood, but only with one other person and only for one hour per day.
- Work, where you cannot work from home or remotely.
Mr McGowan said it appears possible the new positive case has the highly transmissible new UK variant.
The man was working at one of the state's hotel quarantine facilities, the Sheraton Four Points.
"When the man was working at this hotel, there were four active cases of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine. Of those four cases, we have at least three confirmed variant strains, two UK and one South Africa," he said.
"We are told the guard was working on the same floor as a positive UK variant case."
He said the guard completed two 12 hour shifts on both the 26th and 27 January.
"Exactly how the infection was acquired remains under investigation," he said.
"He developed symptoms on Thursday 28 January, and phoned in sick and did not go to work at the quarantine facility."
WA Health is investigating whether the man had a second job for a rideshare company.
https://twitter.com/markgibbo/status/1355733859887812617?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwMr McGowan said in line with the lockdown measures people in the regions are required to stay home with four exceptions; Shopping for essentials like groceries, medicine and necessary supplies; medical or healthcare needs, including compassionate requirements and looking after the vulnerable; and exercise with one other person within their neighbourhood.
Mr McGowan said the lockdown means pubs, bars and clubs and indoor sporting venues will temporarily close. Schools will also close for the period of the lockdown.
"For a majority of schools, school was due to start tomorrow," he said.
"That has now been put on hold, and schools will be closed until next week, following the lot down measures.
"It is in effect an extension of the school holidays."
He also urged people not to engage in panic buying ahead of the hard lockdown.
"Sounds like a biblical statement, but be considerate, do not do panic shopping, we just have to respond in the way that we responded previously, and we will get through this in consideration of all our vulnerable people in the community," he said.
There will also be restrictions placed on gatherings, with 10 people now only allowed to attend funerals.
"No visitors are permitted to your home on caring for someone vulnerable or in an emergency," he said.
"No visitors will be allowed in aged care homes unless exceptional circumstances. No visitors to hospitals, and/or disability facilities, unless exceptional circumstances."
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said the state's contact tracing team is gathering information on possible exposure sites visited by the hotel security guard.
https://twitter.com/G_Parker/status/1355749940773834752"At this point in time we are investigating the current active cases in the hotel and undertaking genomic sequencing of those cases and that will be known in the next 24-48 hours and obviously do genomic sequencing on the individual himself," Dr Cook said.
Dr Cook also advised people to avoid the metropolitan area at the moment.
"Just for clarity because people are wondering if they do or don't go to work tomorrow. If you are in one of the big high-rises in the city or the public service, do you go to work or do you stay home? You only go to work if you are considered essential to the operation.
"Our main concern is to make sure people in the metropolitan area do not travel outside those areas unless they are returning home to a principal place of residence."
Potential WA exposure sites
- Coles Maylands supermarket on 25 January from 8pm to 10pm
- KFC Maylands on 27 January from 6pm to midnight
- Mitsubishi Motors car dealership in Midland on 27 January from 7pm to close
- Spudshed, Coventry Village in Morley on 27 January from 8pm to midnight
- ECU Joondalup on 28 January from 11am to 2pm
- Consulate General of India on St Georges Terrace in Perth on 28 January from 12pm to 5pm
- Halal Grocery Store in Cloverdale on 28 January from 7pm to 9pm
- Venus Ladies and Gentleman Hair Design Maylands hairdressers on 29 January from 1pm to 3pm
- Perth Convention Centre on 29 January from 4pm to 6pm
- Nedlands Family Practice GP surgery on 29 January from 5pm to 6pm
- Chemist Warehouse North Perth Pharmacy on 29 January from 5.30pm to 7.30pm
- 7-Eleven Ascot petrol station on 29 January from 8pm to 9pm
- Coles Maylands supermarket on 29 January from 8pm 9pm
- Puma Service Station in Burswood on 30 January from 11am to 12 midday.
- Coles Express/Shell Service Station in Cloverdale on 30 January from 12 midday to 3pm
- Pharmacy 777 at Maylands Park Shopping Centre 30 January from 2.30pm to 4pm.
These businesses, venues and locations in the relevant regions need to close for next five days:
- Pubs, bars and clubs
- Gyms and indoor sporting venues
- Playgrounds, skate parks and outdoor recreational facilities
- Cinemas, entertainment venues, and casinos
- Large religious gatherings and places of worship
- Libraries and cultural institutions
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