A man has returned a "moderately positive" COVID-19 test result, one day after finishing 14 days in a Perth quarantine hotel.
Key points:
- A maritime worker who was WA's 1,017th COVID-19 case has been put back into isolation quarantine
- He spent a day out in the community before taking a test required by his employer
- WA Health officials say they believe the positive result is due to his body shedding viral particles, but have decided to take an overly cautious approach
Western Australia's Chief Health Officer Dr Andy Robertson said the man, who had travelled to Perth from Colombia via the United States, returned a negative result on his day-10 of quarantine and was therefore able to leave on Friday, when his two weeks were complete.
He tested positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Australia, becoming the state's 1,017th case.
His infection is believed to have led to the state's 1,018th case, who contracted the virus while in quarantine at the Pan Pacific Hotel.
Dr Robertson said the man, who is a maritime worker, was required by his employer to be tested for the virus, which he did after leaving the hotel and has since returned the "moderately positive" result.
"Now getting positive tests on PCR is not unusual, we often get people who are chronic shedders," Dr Robertson said.
"But the test result was more moderately positive than we would anticipate so as a precaution we have put him back into one of our quarantine hotels and have taken further tests.
"His test today was weaker, which is more in line with what we would expect with somebody who is a chronic shedder, and we believe he is a non-infectious chronic shedder.
"What he’s shedding is viral particles, he's not shedding virus and so we don't believe he is of major concern to the community."
Dr Robertson said the man was out in the community for a day and went to a few places while wearing a mask, but said they were taking an overly cautious approach.
He said authorities are working to track down anyone who was in the same locations as the man — most of them in Perth's CBD — and they would be required to be tested.
Dr Robertson said at this stage there was no requirement for those people to isolate unless they were showing symptoms.
However, he warned that the man had been asymptomatic all throughout his time in the WA Health system.
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2021-06-06 08:57:59Z
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