Western Australia has tightened its hard border with the rest of the country in response to the deteriorating coronavirus situation in Victoria, barring people from that state from entering unless they fall into highly restrictive categories of travellers.
Health Minister Roger Cook said the Victorian situation "reinforced why we can't be complacent in WA".
He said anyone who fell into the newly restricted category of travellers from Victoria now allowed — which included defence force personnel and Commonwealth staff — would have to self-isolate for 14 days and be tested for coronavirus on day 11.
"Everyone permitted to enter WA will be served with a notice on arrival if they have been in Victoria during the previous 14 days," Mr Cook said.
"This notice will compel them to take a COVID test on day 11 or at any point when symptoms develop."
He said while the state had great sympathy for Victoria, "if you're a traveller who's been to Victoria in the last 14 days, you're not welcome".
"The situation is just too risky and we need to manage the public health risk," Mr Cook said.
Find workers from somewhere else, industry told
State Emergency Coordinator Chris Dawson said the WA Government had spoken to industry and warned them to source workers who were currently eligible for an exemption to WA's hard border from places other than Victoria.
This included the agricultural and mining, oil and gas sectors.
But he said the rules around transport workers, such as truck drivers bringing in goods, had not changed.
"We have not changed the situation in terms of transport, freight and logistics," he said.
"It's very important we keep that supply chain going. We need to keep food on the shelves."
WA an 'extremely desirable safe haven'
The move comes after Greater Melbourne last night began a six-week lockdown as the Victorian Government grapples with another Covid-19 outbreak.
There have been hundreds of new cases in the state in the past week, including 165 new cases overnight, prompting New South Wales and Queensland to ban Victorians from entering their states without exemptions.
Mr Cook said WA's success in combatting coronavirus meant it had become "an extremely desirable safe haven", and the number of people arriving into the state from interstate and overseas was growing.
A week ago the state had 805 people in hotel quarantine, whereas it now had more than 1,500, and the State Government was being forced to commission extra quarantine hotels to the five currently being used.
An estimated 2,000 people would be in hotel quarantine by the weekend, he said.
Mr Cook said three new coronavirus cases had been detected in WA overnight, all of them overseas travellers.
Two had come from Dubai and one from Sudan, and two were from WA, while one was from interstate.
International flight cap in doubt
Two days ago the WA Government said the Commonwealth had approved WA's request to cap the number of weekly flights to Perth to 525 a week, a significant reduction on current levels.
Under Federal Government rules, people are still allowed to fly into the country if they're Australian citizens, residents, or immediate family members of Australians.
But Mr Cook said the Federal Government "appear to have changed their tune" and he hoped its position on capping arrivals would be clarified after tomorrow's National Cabinet meeting.
He said 607 people had arrived from overseas in the last week, of whom 305 were West Australians, and WA was "doing more than its fair share" of shouldering the burden of returning international travellers.
Anecdotally, the number of people arriving in WA from Victoria had risen in the past fortnight, he said, as domestic flights jumped from five a day to 10 a day.
Mr Cook also took a swipe at Clive Palmer, who has mounted a High Court challenge to WA's hard border closure with the support of the Federal Government.
"Clive Palmer is chewing up precious public resources as part of his self-indulgent activities in the High Court, supported by the Federal Liberal Government," he said.
The court action was diverting public officials from their core job of fighting the pandemic, Mr Cook said.
New warning against complacency
Mr Cook said the Government would embark on a new public health campaign, warning against complacency and encouraging people to continue social distancing and personal hygiene measures.
"Western Australia, you've done a great job so far," Mr Cook said.
"Please keep this up so we can continue to enjoy the freedoms that are hard-fought."
Mr Cook said Premier Mark McGowan would announce tomorrow whether WA would delay introducing Phase Five restrictions, which are due to come into effect on Saturday July 18.
They include scrapping the two square metre rule and allowing stadiums to reopen.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTA5L21hbmRhdG9yeS1jb3ZpZC10ZXN0aW5nLWZvci12aWMtYXJyaXZhbHMtaW50by13YS1hbWlkLW91dGJyZWFrLzEyNDM4MDEy0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNDM4MDEy?oc=5
2020-07-09 05:37:00Z
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