WA Health is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 overnight.
The State’s total remains at 1096. To date, 1083 people have recovered from the virus in WA.
WA Health is monitoring four active COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine.
The Melbourne man who allegedly breached border restrictions to attend the AFL Grand Final yesterday returned an inconclusive result following a GeneXpert test for COVID-19 – and a PCR test today has now returned a negative result.
The fully vaccinated man also tested negative to COVID-19 in the Northern Territory on 15 September.
The man’s Melbourne friend, who also attended the grand final, and a woman in their company, have so far tested negative to COVID-19. All three are required to quarantine for 14 days.
The pilot of a transport aircraft that flew into Perth yesterday has now been confirmed as a false positive.
The false positive result occurred in Queensland – the test was re-run at the state’s reference laboratory, where it was found to be negative.
The pilot was also tested in WA where he also returned a negative result. The crew and pilot remain in quarantine until arrangements are finalised for their departure.
Vessel watch
WA Health is monitoring the Stolt Sakura, a tanker currently off the coast of WA.
Yesterday, the captain notified WA Health that 12 out of 22 crew members had returned non-negative† rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 and most of whom have mild to no symptoms.
WA Health is working with the shipping agent and usual biosecurity channels to obtain further information.
The vessel is due to arrive at the end of the week.
COVID-19 contacts update
The 18 close and casual contacts of a positive case on Friday, a returned traveller in her 20s, have now been tested. As of 9am today, all close and casual contacts have returned a negative COVID-19 test result. The close contacts remain in quarantine as directed.
Contact tracers have identified 57 close and casual contacts linked to a New South Wales truck driver who returned a positive PCR result for COVID-19 last week. As of 6pm yesterday, all had tested negative to COVID-19.
All contacts will remain in quarantine as directed.
The list of exposure sites are available on the HealthyWA and wa.gov.au websites.
People are urged to check the list of exposure sites and get tested immediately if they have been to any of the sites at the times indicated.
Testing clinics
Yesterday, 635 people were swabbed at State-run clinics. To date, there have been 1,764,597 COVID-19 tests performed in WA. Of those, 206,611 are from regional WA.
A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website.
COVID-19 vaccinations
Yesterday, 25,628COVID-19 vaccine doses were recorded in WA – 12,653 of these were second doses. The total includes 4326 historic COVID-19 vaccine doses*. These figures represent COVID-19 vaccinations at State-run clinics and doses given as part of the Commonwealth rollout**.
For the latest WA vaccination figures, visit the COVID-19 Coronavirus: Vaccination dashboard (external site)**.
There is a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the 2021 Perth Royal Show (external link) and numerous spots are available this week. No bookings are required.
Western Australian children aged 12 to 15 years are eligible for a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination (external site). Parents and guardians are encouraged to visit rollup.wa.gov.au (external site) to register and book appointments for their children in this age group.
Walk-in community clinics are available for young people aged 16 years and over (year 11 and 12) and school staff (external site). Bookings are not required but it is recommended registrations are made through a VaccinateWA (external site) account to make it easier to check in. Proof of age is also required.
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (external site) is available at selected WA pharmacies. To find a pharmacy offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, visit Vaccine Clinic Finder (external site) or findapharmacy (external site).
Border controls
New directions make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for freight, transport and logistics workers who enter Western Australia from high or extreme risk jurisdictions, based on the latest public health advice.
New directions make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory (external site) for WA’s port workers who board or work with exposed vessels. A pop-up vaccination clinic will be available at Fremantle Port tomorrow (30 September) to make it easier for workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Victoria
Based on the latest health advice, Victoria has been elevated to the extreme risk (external site) category. This means travel from Victoria to Western Australia is not permitted.
Under this category, exemptions for approved travellers has been further restricted to Commonwealth and State officials, Members of Parliament, diplomats and specialist or extraordinary circumstances determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or the Chief Health Officer.
Other states
New Zealand
In line with all other Australian jurisdictions, travel from New Zealand is treated as travel from an international location (external site).
Variants
To date, 160 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 91 Delta strain.
Visit WA Health’s HealthyWA website for the latest information on COVID-19.
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†A rapid antigen test can return a result other than positive or negative. A non-negative result requires a follow-up PCR test before the presence of COVID-19 can be validated.
* 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.