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WA coronavirus outbreak reaches disability care

More than 55 per cent of eligible Western Australians have received booster vaccination jabs.

More than 55 per cent of eligible Western Australians have received booster vaccination jabs. Photo: Getty

Western Australia has reported another 194 local Omicron cases as the virus spreads to disability care and another aged home.

After yet another day of record cases, the state has 724 active cases but no one in hospital.

A further eight travel-related infections were reported by WA Health on Friday.

Ability WA said two care workers had tested positive after working shifts at residential homes in Brentwood and Wanneroo.

Chief executive Jacquie Thomson said clients and their decision-makers had been notified and testing and infection control would go ahead.

“Our customers and employees’ wellbeing is our priority. We will work closely with customers and their families to ensure they remain connected and well supported,” she said.

Amana Living has, meanwhile, reported two cases. One involves a student nurse who worked at an aged-care facility in Kinross this week.

The nurse is isolating at home and the Kinross home has been closed to visitors while residents and staff are tested.

The second case involved a community support worker who late last week visited clients at home in Perth’s south-east.

Both were wearing masks and fully vaccinated.

“The majority of our staff and residents are triple vaccinated and our procedures are in place to help minimise the impact on our residents, clients, families and staff,” Amana chief executive Stephanie Buckland said.

Eighteen residents and four staff have tested positive at Brightwater’s The Cove aged care home in Mandurah.

But the number of active cases at Juniper’s Cygnet home in Bentley has dipped to nine after five residents made full recoveries.

Premier Mark McGowan is expected to announce a new border reopening date for WA next week, subject to receiving advice from the chief health officer.

Just over four weeks have passed since Mr McGowan announced an indefinite delay to the planned February 5 reopening.

At the time, the state had 79 active cases and a third-dose vaccination rate of 26 per cent.

More than 55 per cent of eligible Western Australians have received booster shots, while the state has confirmed 486 local cases in the past three days.

An announcement on new public health restrictions is imminent, with Mr McGowan flagging they are likely to resemble those implemented in South Australia.

But the Australian Hotels Association urged the government not to implement a rule for hospitality venues of one person per four square metres.

“WA’s hospitality venues are rightly concerned that they will again bear the brunt of excessive and deeply damaging COVID-19 restrictions,” chief executive Bradley Woods said.

“Those advocating for unnecessarily harsh density limits ignore the fact that WA has the broadest mandatory vaccination policy in the country and the majority of eligible Western Australians are already triple vaccinated.”

-AAP

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