WA Health has reported four new COVID-19 cases in Western Australia overnight, which includes the two cases announced in yesterday’s update but included in this reporting period.
There are now seven active confirmed cases in WA, five in quarantine hotels and two in self-quarantine.
Two of the new cases arrived on separate flights, on separate days, via Doha and are in hotel quarantine.
There are now 35 close contacts linked to the two cases who arrived from Brisbane, most of these are from the surrounding rows on the plane, and 24 have tested negative. This includes four household contacts and a further close contact who had visited the house.
There are 104 casual contacts, most of these are from the plane, but not on surrounding rows.
Other contacts are being identified by public health officials. See below information for exposure sites.
Other passengers from the flight must comply with existing quarantine arrangements as per WA’s border with QLD; and get tested under these requirements. These people should monitor for symptoms.
The State’s total stands at 1130 and 1114 people have recovered from the virus.
Exposure sites
At this stage, two exposure sites (external site) in the Perth metropolitan area related to the two arrivals from Brisbane have 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:
- monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested and self-isolate if they have symptoms.
Border controls
Based on the latest health advice, a hard border will be introduced with Tasmania and the Northern Territory from 12.01am Sunday, December 26.
Tasmania update
Border controls with Tasmania will transition to a hard border from 12.01am Sunday 26 December. Travel from these jurisdictions will not be permitted, unless a person is an approved traveller.
Northern Territory update
Based on the latest health advice, a hard border will be introduced with the Northern Territory from 12.01am Sunday, December 26.
Queensland update
WA has transitioned its border arrangements with Queensland from ‘Low’ risk to ‘Medium’ risk. Travel from Queensland will not be permitted, unless a person is an approved traveller.
NSW update
Based on the latest health advice, WA transitioned its border arrangement with New South Wales from ‘High’ risk to an ‘Extreme’ risk category on Saturday, 18 December 2021.
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, 28,777 COVID-19 vaccine doses were recorded in WA, 14,266 of these were second doses. The total includes 8,232 historic COVID-19 vaccine doses*. These figures represent COVID-19 vaccinations at State-run clinics and doses given as part of the Commonwealth rollout**.
People are reminded that it is more important now than ever for everyone who has received their second dose of the COVID-19 five or more months ago to get their booster vaccination now without delay to ensure they have maximum protection again COVID-19. Do not wait till it is too late, act now and get vaccinated.
For the latest WA vaccination figures, visit the COVID-19 Coronavirus: Vaccination dashboard (external site)**.
Testing clinics
Yesterday, 679 people were swabbed at State-run clinics.* A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website.
Mandatory vaccination information
A 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 Omicron strain, 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 117 Delta strain.
Visit WA Health’s HealthyWA website for the latest information on COVID-19.
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** 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.