COVID-19 update – 26 January 2021

The Department of Health has today reported one new case of COVID-19 in Western Australia, with the State’s total now standing at 895.

The new case is a man in his 60’s who is hotel quarantine after returning to Australia from overseas.

WA Health is monitoring 13 active cases and 873 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

Yesterday 956 people presented to WA COVID clinics – 954 were assessed and 954 were swabbed.

To date twelve cases of variant strains have been detected, four which remain active in hotel quarantine. Of these cases, 10 are the B.1.1.7 strain and two are the B.1.351 variant strain.

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

Media contact: 9222 4333
Follow us on Twitter: @WAHealth

Note: The cases of variant strains reported above are not new cases. Genome sequencing – to define the strain of the virus – is a separate laboratory process carried out after someone who tests positive to COVID-19. All cases, regardless of strain, are managed by WA’s public health experts. The strains previously reported as the UK variant strain and South African variant strain will now be referred to as B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 respectively.

An updated breakdown of cumulative COVID-19 tests performed in WA will be released tomorrow.