Western Australia has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 overnight, as those in the Perth and Peel regions enter the third day of the four-day circuit-breaker lockdown.
Western Australia has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 overnight, as those in the Perth and Peel regions enter the third day of the four-day circuit-breaker lockdown.
The news comes after the state recorded its third case of community transmission yesterday, a 37-year-old man, now identified as case 1028, who attended the Mobius Health and Performance Gym in Joondalup during the same period as a returned traveller from Sydney and the first case of community transmission.
During a press conference this morning, Health Minister Roger Cook said the outbreak was believed to be confined to the northern suburbs, with wastewater testing confirming the virus had been detected in Alkimos, in close proximity to the homes of the two positive cases in Mindarie.
Health authorities have now identified 356 close contacts in what is now being referred to as the ‘community cluster’, 295 of whom have tested negative for the virus.
A further 2,503 people have been identified as casual contacts, 1,173 of whom have returned a negative test result.
More than 15,800 people presented for COVID-19 testing across the state yesterday.
While acknowledging that those numbers were encouraging, Premier Mark McGowan said it was vital that those who had attended potential exposure sites or developed any symptoms presented for testing, as the next 24 hours would be "crucial".
Mr McGowan refused to be drawn on how long the lockdown may be in place, but indicated it was likely there would be a 'step down' in measures.
Restrictions were enforced on Sunday after confirmation a woman in her 50s had acquired the virus on a trip to Bondi - the epicentre of Sydney’s most recent outbreak.
The snap four-day circuit-breaker lockdown was announced for the Perth and Peel regions by the following evening, after confirmation that two members of the public had contracted the virus, which genomic sequencing later confirmed to be the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19.
A woman in her 30s, case 1023, tested positive after attending the Joondalup gym alongside the returned traveller, while a man in his 30s, case 1024, contracted the virus while dining in close proximity to the returned traveller at the Indian Ocean Brewing Co in Mindarie.
The following day, a third person tested positive for the virus.
At this stage, a regional boundary will remain in place around Perth and Peel until 12.01am Saturday, with those in the regions required to stay at home unless seeking medical attention or purchasing essential goods - preferably within a five-kilometre radius of the home.
Hospitality venues have been restricted to takeaway only, private gatherings have been banned and beauty salons, gyms, universities and places of workshop have been forced to close.
Fly-in, fly-out workers have been forced to remain in situ unless deemed ‘essential’ to operations, but schools and childcare centres have remained open.