28 June 2021

COVID-19 update 28 June 2021

WA Health is reporting one new community case of COVID-19 – which is in addition to one case announced yesterday as part of the restrictions which started at noon yesterday.

The case reported yesterday – a woman in her 50s – is included in today’s official total, which now stands at 1022.

The other new case is a woman in her 30s who is a close contact of case 1022. This case will be added to tomorrow’s reporting cycle, as the results came in post-reporting period.

Contact tracing has begun with initial public exposure sites available on the HealthyWA website.

WA Health is monitoring four active COVID-19 cases ­(this includes the two cases in hotel quarantine) – 1010 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

Yesterday, 8,398 people were swabbed at WA Health COVID clinics and private clinics.

There have been 1,294,879 COVID-19 tests performed in WA. Of those, 163,324 were from regional WA.

As reported yesterday, the Case 1022 is a female in her 50s, who travelled to New South Wales on 15 June and returned to Perth on 20 June. She has followed public health advice and received a negative test result on Monday, 21 June following her initial test.

On Saturday, 26 June, realising that a place she had visited in New South Wales had been recently added to the list of NSW exposure sites, she presented for another COVID test, which returned a positive result.

Both she and her partner, who had previously tested negative, remain in isolation. They have done everything right. They have had their first vaccinations, used the SafeWA app and stayed home, and retested. Her partner was tested (via domiciliary testing at home) yesterday that has proved negative.

However, in the days between her initial negative test result and the second, positive test result, the woman visited several places in the northern suburbs.

Of Case 1022’s 114 close contacts, 27 have so far tested negative.

Connolly Primary School, Koondoola Primary School and Burbridge School have been closed for today. The Connolly Year 5 students who were at the school on 24 June between 11.30am and 2pm have been identified as close contacts and must get tested and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they have symptoms.

Public exposure sites will continue to be updated on the HealthyWA website (external site) and people are encouraged to monitor the website for updates.

WA has also stepped up its contact tracing following the report, by Northern Territory Health, of a positive COVID-19 case at the Granites gold mine in the Tanami Desert – some 540 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.

The mine worker, from Victoria, is suspected to have been infected with the Delta variant of the virus at the Airport Novotel Langley quarantine hotel in Brisbane and was potentially infectious from June 18 to June 25.

Of the 177 close contacts who are still in WA, 149 have returned negative results.

Only those people, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, who have been to a listed exposure site at the dates and times indicated are required to be tested.

WA Health requests all other people who are not symptomatic to refrain from being tested, enabling priority contacts to be processed first.

New South Wales

WA has instigated a hard border with NSW, which has been assessed as medium risk in the wake of the escalating COVID-19 outbreak in that State.

All people who have arrived into WA from New South Wales are asked to continue to monitor updated exposure sites on the NSW Health website.

New Zealand

Anyone in WA who visited the Wellington area after 18 June 2021 (even if not to a listed exposure site) should get tested if even mild symptoms develop, and self-isolate immediately until a negative test result is received.

Travellers from New Zealand should continue to monitor the New Zealand Ministry for Health site.

Queensland

Travellers who have recently returned from Queensland who have been to one of the listed exposure sites during the relevant times are required to get tested immediately (within 48 hours of arrival in WA), self-quarantine for 14 days, and have another test on day 11 of their quarantine.

All other travellers from Queensland should get tested if even mild symptoms develop, and self-isolate immediately until a negative test result is received.

Recently returned travellers from Queensland should continue to monitor the Queensland Health site, as more exposure sites may be added.

Victoria, ACT and Northern Territory

Victoria is assessed as a low-risk location. All returning travellers are required to get tested immediately (within 48 hours of arrival in WA), self-quarantine for 14 days, and have another test on day 11 of their quarantine.

Testing clinics

A list of testing clinics, including a new drive-through in Wangara is available on the HealthyWA website.

Vaccination

Yesterday, 5643 people received a COVID vaccination, 1605 of those were second doses.

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

Variants

To date, 98 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – 53 of the Alpha (UK variant) strain, 15 of the Beta (South African variant) strain, one of the Gamma (Brazilian variant) strain and 29 of the Delta (Indian variant) strain.

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

Follow us on Twitter: WAHealth

*Note: 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 is also available to help you.