WA toughens more border restrictions

Karen Sweeney |

Western Australia has tightened travel restrictions for Queensland and South Australia over concerns about an “alarming” rise in COVID-19 case numbers.

From midnight the states were reclassified from medium to high risk after Premier Mark McGowan referred to an alarming rise in cases in South Australia and “worrying signs” in Queensland.

It’s a case from Queensland that also has the state on edge about its own case numbers.

Western Australia recorded five new community infections on Thursday and Mr McGowan expects that number to continue to grow after an unvaccinated French backpacker attended a number of venues while infectious.

The 25-year-old arrived in Australia before the pandemic and travelled to Perth on December 12.

He began feeling unwell on Sunday but wasn’t tested until Wednesday, and was discovered to be positive on Thursday.

One of Thursday’s cases was a close contact of the man, while four were casual contacts from an event at Perth Mess Hall on Sunday.

Anyone who attended that event – 400 people including 100 from a Fremantle backpackers – must now test and isolate until January 3, missing Christmas and New Year celebrations.

While WA is scheduled to reopen on February 5, the uptick in infections has prompted question about whether that might be pushed back.

Mr McGowan said it would need to be re-assessed if cases do rise, but suggested it might even be brought forward.

“If we have community spread of the virus we’ll have to consider what we do,” Mr McGowan said.

“It may well come forward … It may well be that February 5 becomes redundant.”

Measures have been brought in to reduce the chances of transmission, including a mask mandate for all indoor public venues in Perth and the Peel region until at least December 28.

The mandate applies in other areas for people who travelled to Perth or the Peel region after December 16.

High-risk large public events including music festivals are cancelled and nightclubs are closed.

AAP