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| The latest COVID-19 update from WA Health. Image: Twitter |
Western Australia appears to be getting on top of the COVID-19 outbreak, with a second day of zero cases.
As of noon today, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 within the Western Australian community and in hotel quarantine within the past 24 hours.
Nearly 16,500 tests were conducted on the first full day of lockdown yesterday, the largest single day of testing since the pandemic began.
More than 150 close contacts and 60 casual contacts of the infected security guard now known as “case 903” have been tested.
Despite the contacts so far all testing negative, the state government has conceded the number of contacts is likely to grow.
“Obviously we are going to continue monitoring the situation,” Health Minister Roger Cook said.
The general public has been praised for its use of the SafeWA app, with an additional 140,000 people using the app since the start of this week’s lockdown.
More than one million people have used the app since it’s inception late last year.
There has been increasing concern about the standards of the state’s hotel quarantine system after it was revealed the security guard had delivered medication to the door of a recent overseas arrival with the UK variant of COVID-19.
Recent return travellers have complained about security guards not wearing face masks while working at the Four Points Hotel in the Perth CBD.
Mr Cook did not rule out the possibility of the guard having not worn a mask while on the same floor as the infected return traveller.
“He certainly would have had [a mask] in case one of the return travellers left their rooms,” he said.
“The difference between us and other states is that our guards have infection protocol training.”
While a Belmont gym was added to the list of potential infection locations last night, there are still no such locations within the Peel and South West region.
