Western Australia avoids second lockdown as state records no new cases overnight

The state has recorded no new community cases of the virus today, after three new cases linked to a quarantine hotel were confirmed yesterday.

Premier Mark McGowan’s announcement will bring relief to many, but he is still refusing to rule out a lockdown in the days to come, with new exposure sites revealed and some restrictions increased.

Fans will not be allowed to attend today’s AFL Western Derby at Optus Stadium.

A huge crowd of 45,000 people had been expected to pack into the stadium for one of Perth’s largest sporting events.

Nightclubs will also be forced to close immediately.

The fresh outbreak stems from a quarantine security guard who worked at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth last weekend, with two of his household contacts also testing positive yesterday.

They have now been revealed as food delivery drivers, with Mr McGowan saying they could have been infectious since last Tuesday and worked a number of shifts since then.

WA contact tracers are contacting all the restaurants they visited and locations where they delivered food to direct people to isolate and test for COVID-19.

“Public health advice is that the risk is low when it comes to food deliveries, given the minimal contact and the requirement to wear masks,” Mr McGowan said.

Any restaurants determined to be an exposure site will be listed on the WA Health website, but this may not include all locations visited by the pair due to the short length of their visits.

The hotel quarantine worker, aged in his 20s, is believed to have been infectious in the community for four days, during which time he visited a number of locations including a shopping centre and a Coles.

It’s believed he contracted the virus from two positive travellers quarantining on the same floor he was guarding.

Other restrictions had already been stepped up yesterday, just one day after they were eased following the previous three-day lockdown which ended last Monday.

Masks are again mandatory outdoors as well as in indoor public spaces and on public transport.

Cafes and restaurants will return to “pretty much business as usual” but hospitality venues must comply with either the two-square-metre rule or 75 per cent capacity.

The latest outbreak has prompted New Zealand’s Ministry of Health to pause the trans-Tasman travel bubble with Western Australia.

Scheduled flights between WA and New Zealand have been cancelled, including a flight from Perth which had been due to land in Auckland at 5.50am on Sunday morning.

The NZ government is also advising anyone who has arrived into the country from the WA capital in the last four days to check the exposure sites and self-isolate immediately if exposed.

Other Australian states have yet to increase travel restrictions with their western neighbour, but extra protocols are being put in place.

In New South Wales, Perth arrivals are being screened by dedicated health teams after disembarking at Sydney Airport and all travellers are required to complete an entry declaration if they’ve been in WA within the 14 days prior to entering NSW.

Victoria has added the Perth exposure sites – which include a shopping centre and Coles – as ‘Tier One’ exposure sites, with anyone who has visited the locations at the relevant times being sent into an immediate 14-day quarantine.

Perth and Peel remain ‘orange’ zones under Victoria’s traffic light border restrictions, meaning travellers must apply for an exemption before being permitted to enter the state.

Hotel quarantine worker exposure sites