15 December 2021

COVID-19 update 15 December 2021

WA Health is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 overnight. The State’s total stands at 1125. To date, 1113 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

WA is monitoring three active cases in hotel quarantine.

The three positive cases, interstate truck drivers who spent time in WA this week, will be counted in the NSW and SA totals as that is where they were tested.

A list of exposure site (external site) related to the truck drivers has been published on the HealthyWA website. Please continue to check the site in case more exposure sites are added.

Anyone who visited these sites at the specified times and dates must:

  • Get tested immediately and isolate until you receive a negative result unless directly advised otherwise by the Department of Health.

Metropolitan testing locations are available on HealthyWA.

Regional testing is available at:

  • Norseman Hospital – 8am to 6pm
  • Southern Cross – 24/7 – phone ahead on 9081 2222
  • Kalgoorlie Health Campus, 8am to 6pm.

To date, 149 casual contacts and seven close contacts have been identified (who are still in WA). So far 24 contacts have tested negative, 38 test results are pending; and 94 are still being tested.

Border controls

NSW update

Based on the latest health advice, WA will transition its border arrangement with New South Wales from ‘High’ risk to an ‘Extreme’ risk category from 12.01am Saturday, 18 December 2021.

Travel will not be permitted from NSW into WA except in extraordinary circumstances. Current approved travellers under the 'high risk' category need to return immediately

Queensland update 

WA has transitioned its border arrangements with Queensland from “Very Low” risk to “Low” risk on Sunday (December 13).

The elevated risk level has been put in place following the escalating situation in Queensland with continuing community cases.

Information about Western Australia’s controlled border arrangements, conditions of entry and quarantine is available online.

COVID-19 vaccinations*

Since vaccination numbers were reported yesterday, 23,364 COVID-19 vaccine doses were recorded in WA – 12,551 of these were second doses. The total includes 7148 historic COVID-19 vaccine doses*. These figures represent COVID-19 vaccinations at State-run clinics and doses given as part of the Commonwealth rollout**.

Western Australia will embark on its Safe Transition Plan to safely ease its hard border controls in line with a 90 per cent vaccination rate from 12.01am on Saturday February 5, 2022.

For the latest WA vaccination figures, visit the COVID-19 Coronavirus: Vaccination dashboard (external site)**.

Testing clinics

Yesterday, 544 people were swabbed at State-run clinics.* A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website.

Mandatory vaccination information

mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for a majority of occupations and workforces in WA is being introduced in a phased approach. For more information on getting your COVID-19 vaccine, visit: https://rollup.wa.gov.au/

Variants

To date, 195 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including two new Omicron strains detected overnight, 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 117 Delta strain. The Omicron strains are linked to positive COVID-19 cases who recently travelled to Africa and other countries where the strain has been reported. They are in hotel quarantine.

Visit WA Health’s HealthyWA website for the latest information on COVID-19.

Follow us on Twitter: WAHealth

** WA vaccination data for the WA COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard is sourced from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). AIR is a national register maintained by the Australian Government that records all vaccines given to all people in Australia. WA data includes all COVID-19 vaccinations in WA, whether administered by WA Health, Australian Government providers or other providers (including GPs). WA previously reported only WA Health data. Note that the dashboard does not update until after 2pm Monday to Friday. A vaccine dashboard data interpretation guide (external site) is also available to help you.