Advertisement

WA man positive for virus after leaving Vic hotel quarantine

Staff at Perth's Claremont vaccination centre get ready to administer AstraZeneca shots.

Staff at Perth's Claremont vaccination centre get ready to administer AstraZeneca shots. Photo: Getty

A man in Collie, south of Perth, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Western Australian Health Department said the man recorded a very weak positive result that likely reflected a historical infection.

He recently returned from Victoria after undergoing 14 days of quarantine there.

His positive test emerged late on Tuesday afternoon.

Health authorities said the man and three of his close contacts had been ordered to isolate and he would be re-tested.

Earlier, Premier Mark McGowan said WA had 26 active virus cases in hotels and hospital.

On Monday, the Premier said the state remained in a ‘holding pattern” as authorities traced the movements of two food delivery drivers who caught COVID-19 from a housemate who worked in a Perth quarantine hotel.

Despite those cases, Perth and the Peel region avoided being plunged into another snap lockdown, just a week after the last one, which was triggered by another case of COVID-19 transmission in a different quarantine hotel.

The Premier said 79 close contacts had been recorded for the new cluster, and 49 of this group had returned negative results.

There were also 429 casual contacts established, of which 134 had returned negative results.

“We did 7534 tests in Western Australia yesterday and we still came up with no new cases in the community,” Mr McGowan said.

wa lockdown

The Dockers and the Eagles played their AFL derby before empty grandstands last Sunday. Photo: Getty

No spectators at Perth Glory match

Mr McGowan said Wednesday night’s Perth Glory game would go ahead but without any spectators.

“Hopefully by Thursday this week we will have a way forward on all of these things,” he said.

“As soon as we can safely get crowds back to sporting events we will.”

Sunday’s Western Derby AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles was played without spectators after a decision to ban crowds just hours before bounce down.

Mr McGowan said he thought the Fremantle Dockers had made a practical decision to move this weekend’s game against Brisbane, scheduled to be played at Perth Stadium, to Queensland.

“We can’t give them exact certainty until late this week and let’s imagine say Thursday or Friday we say you can’t have a crowd, when earlier this week they could have made the decision to go to Brisbane,” he said.

“I think they made the right decision.”

Vaccination appointments filling up

Mr McGowan, who got the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday, again encouraged all eligible West Australians to get the jab.

He said about 1160 people were vaccinated at WA COVID clinics on Monday, and about 200,000 West Australians had received at least their first vaccination.

“Our Claremont clinic is pretty much full at this point in time, but the Airport Clinic and the Kwinana Clinic have spots available [so] please book in for those,” he said.

“Our Joondalup clinic we expect will be up by the end of the week.”

Earlier, the WA government announced it would donate $2 million in relief funding to support those directly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis in India.

The money will go towards a grant program that will be available to local Indian community organisations already working with partners to provide on-the-ground support in India.

“The sooner the situation gets resolved the better it is for everyone across the world,” Mr McGowan said.

“It’s the right thing to do, it is the humane and compassionate thing to do.”

-with agencies

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.