23 August 2021

COVID-19 update 23 August 2021

WA Health has reported one new COVID-19 case overnight.

The woman, in her 20s, arrived from overseas and is in hotel quarantine.

The State’s total is now 1064. To date, 1051 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

WA Health is monitoring four active COVID-19 cases who are all currently in hotel quarantine.

Testing clinics

Yesterday, 1101 people were swabbed at State-run clinics. A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website. To date, there have been 1,618,478 COVID-19 tests performed in WA. Of those, 192,634 were from regional WA.

Vaccination

Since vaccination numbers were reported on Friday, 55,796 vaccine doses were recorded in WA, of which 30,511 were second doses. The total includes 5855 historic vaccine doses*. These figures represent vaccinations at State-run clinics and doses administered through the Commonwealth rollout**.

In week one of WA’s vaccination blitz, more than 93,000 people were vaccinated at State-run clinics. People can book their vaccination by visiting rollup.wa.gov.au, creating a profile and then making an appointment.

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

Donations to Afghan evacuees

The State Government is continuing to work with its community sector partners to support evacuees from Afghanistan who have recently arrived in Perth.

While many members of the Western Australian community are keen to show their support through the donation of goods and food, these donations are not needed at this time.

There are strict COVID safety restrictions at WA hotel quarantine facilities and it is important that people do not visit these locations, especially during quarantine periods.

The best way to can help is to make a financial donation through the Australian Red Cross Afghanistan Crisis Appeal (external site).

Border controls

New South Wales update

Based on the latest health advice, New South Wales will be further elevated to the new extreme risk (external site) category from 12.01am Thursday, August 26, 2021. This means travel from New South Wales to Western Australia will not be permitted, except for:

  • Commonwealth and State officials
  • Members of Parliament
  • diplomats
  • specialist or extraordinary circumstances determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or the Chief Health Officer.

Travellers approved under specialist or extraordinary circumstances are subject to the following conditions, unless otherwise advised. They must:

  • undertake mandatory hotel quarantine at a State quarantine facility for 14 days at their own expense.
  • get tested for COVID-19 on days one, five and 13.
  • return a negative COVID-19 PCR test in 72 hours.
  • have receipt of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, if eligible.

Under the extreme risk setting, if a Western Australian returning from overseas falls into one of the above categories, is approved to enter WA and has completed 14 days of supervised quarantine in NSW – they will also be required to undergo 14 days of self-quarantine in a suitable premises in WA.

New Zealand

Based on the most recent health advice, New Zealand has transitioned to a ‘low risk’ jurisdiction under Western Australia’s controlled border.

Anyone who has entered WA from New Zealand is subject to the following strict conditions. They must:

  • present for a COVID-19 test on arrival (within 48 hours) and on day 12.
  • self-quarantine for 14 days in a suitable premises.
  • complete a G2G Pass declaration before arrival, stipulating they do not have any COVID-19 symptoms, and which jurisdictions they have been in during the previous 14 days.
  • land arrivals are to be met at the border checkpoint for a health screening and to have their G2G Pass declaration checked before proceeding to their self-quarantine premises.

It is important that recent travellers from New Zealand familiarise themselves with the latest exposure sites (external site), as contact tracing continues to uncover more locations of concern.

Northern Territory

All people arriving into Western Australia from the Northern Territory are required to get tested immediately (within 48 hours) and isolate until they have received a negative result. This includes people crossing into the Kimberley from the Northern Territory.

A person who refuses to get tested will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Anyone who has been at the listed NT exposure venues (external site) on the dates and times specified are required to self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested immediately (within 48 hours) and again at day 11.

Anyone from the Darwin and Katherine areas who did not visit the venues and has arrived from August 12 to 16 is advised to get tested if they develop any symptoms that may be related to COVID-19.

The Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Victoria are at medium risk (external site), while South Australia is assessed as low risk (external site). Tasmania is considered very low risk (external site).

Variants

To date, 128 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 59 Delta strain.

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

Vessels

WA Health reports the MV Ken Hou is expected to berth at Fremantle Port later this afternoon. The vessel is carrying 22 crew with 16 reporting symptoms. All crew members will subsequently be tested for COVID-19. Pending test results tomorrow, a plan for the management of the vessel will be made with all key stakeholders.

WA Health is also monitoring the health of two crew (out of 18) on another vessel, the bulk carrier Poavasa Wisdom, which is in anchorage near Fremantle Port.

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* Historic vaccine doses are vaccinations that were administered up to 10 days before the current date but were recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register since the last report.

** 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.

An incorrect total was reported yesterday. This is the correct amount.