IT COMES AS WA REPORTED 202 NEW CASES OVERNIGHT. ONLY EIGHT OF WHICH WERE TRAVEL RELATED.
0It comes as WA reported 202 new cases overnight. only eight of which were travel related.
Fortress WA will finally fall when Western Australia opens its borders to travellers in two weeks. Premier Mark McGowan on Friday announced travellers will finally be welcomed back into the state when the border opens at midnight on March 3. The border opening means quarantine free travel can resume to WA for triple dose vaccinated people. if eligible. “International arrivals will need a registered G2G pass and meet the Commonwealth requirements to enter Australia.” Mr McGowan said. All travellers will be required to take a rapid antigen test within 12 hours of arrival and report a negative result. Unvaccinated returning Australians must complete hotel quarantine. The premier conceded the state’s Omicron outbreak had spread beyond control and would continue to spike. It comes as WA reported 202 new cases overnight. only eight of which were travel related. The community transmission tops Thursday’s record of 189 daily local cases and is a sharp jump from 48 locally acquired cases on Tuesday. “We have an outbreak in WA that we can’t stop and its numbers continue to climb.” Mr McGowan said. “Eventually there comes a point where the border is ineffective.” The border was set to fall on February 5 before the premier backflipped. citing concerns of WA’s low booster rate and growing Omicron cases over east. WA’s third dose rate has jumped from 25 per cent at that time to more than 55 per cent. First doses in children have also tripled from 13 per cent to around 45 per cent. Based on current government modelling. the third dose rate will reach 70 per cent by March 3. Mr McGowan said opening on the original date would have been a “complete unforced error” that would have “deliberately infected the state”. He said the new date was “locked in”. “The virus is already here and we cannot stop its spread.” the premier said. Restrictions expanded New restrictions will be rolled out to slow the spread of the Omicron variant in WA. As of 6am February 21. masks will be mandatory indoors statewide. New measures will also be implemented in all regions with community transmission. including Perth. Peel. South West. Great Southern. Wheatbelt and the Pilbara. The “level one” restrictions include: home gatherings limited to 30 peopleprivate outdoor gatherings limited to 200 peopletwo square metre rule introduced for hospitality. fitness venues. entertainment venues. cultural venues. places of worship. hairdressers and beauty servicestwo square metre rule for Perth Crown Complex and seated service only on the casino gaming floortwo square metre rule for nightclubs and 500 person capacity limit75 per cent capacity for seated entertainment venues (forward facing). including theatres and cinemas; and major stadiumsfour visitors per patient/resident per day at residential aged care. disability care facilities and hospitals Bottle shops will also immediately be removed from proof of vaccination requirements. Mr McGowan said dancing and standing consumption are still allowed and staff were not required to work from home. “Omicron is fast moving. if it’s not already in a specific region we can assume it will be there soon.” he said. Stricter measures may be introduced down the line. including a 4sqm rule. mask wearing for Year 3 students and above. working from home for vulnerable people and home gatherings limited to 10 people. Peak to come Health Minister Amber Jade Sanderson said Omicron modelling shows WA will reach its peak COVID immunity in March. which will coincide with its predicted peak daily cases. “Modelling suggests we will reach caseload peak at end of March of around 10.000 daily cases.” she said. Hospitals can expect around 443 general beds occupied and 53 people in ICU at the peak. according to modelling. The state’s new cases bring the total active infections to 724 none of which are currently in hospital. Despite no hospitalisations from the virus. several public hospitals were...
#news