26 September 2021

COVID-19 update 26 September 2021

WA Health is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 overnight.

The State’s total is now 1095. To date, 1080 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

WA Health is now monitoring six active COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine.

The 18 close and casual contacts of a positive case on Friday, a returned traveller in her 20s, have now been tested. As of 11am today, all close and casual contacts have returned a negative COVID-19 test result. No results are pending The close contacts will remain in quarantine as directed.

Contact tracers have identified 51 close and casual contacts linked to a New South Wales truck driver, who returned a positive PCR result for COVID-19 last week. As of 11am today, 47 contacts had tested negative to COVID-19 with one test result pending and three people still being tested. NB: The number of close and casual contacts reported yesterday was 58, but following further and ongoing investigation, a number of individuals no longer met their previously determined contact status.

All contacts will remain in quarantine as directed.

The list of exposure sites has been updated overnight. These are published on the HealthyWA and wa.gov.au websites.

People are urged to check the list of exposure sites and get tested immediately if they have been to one of the sites.

Testing clinics

Yesterday, 523 people were swabbed at State-run clinics. A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website.

COVID-19 vaccinations

There will be a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the 2021 Perth Royal Show (external link) which opened yesterday. There are still plenty of spots available today.

Western Australian children aged 12 to 15 years are no eligible for a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination (external site). Parents and guardians are encouraged to visit rollup.wa.gov.au (external site) to register and book appointments for their children in this age group.

Walk-in community clinics are available for young people aged 16 years and over (year 11 and 12) and school staff (external site). Bookings are not required but it is recommended registrations are made through a VaccinateWA (external site) account to make it easier to check in. Proof of age is also required.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (external site) is now available at selected WA pharmacies. To find a pharmacy offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, visit Vaccine Clinic Finder (external site) or findapharmacy (external site).

For the latest WA vaccination figures, visit the COVID-19 Coronavirus: Vaccination dashboard (external site)**.

Border controls

From late next month, freight, transport and logistics workers must have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to enter Western Australia from ‘high’ or ‘extreme’ risk jurisdictions, based on the latest public health advice.

Changes to the Transport, Freight and Logistics Directions under the Emergency Management Act 2005 will further protect this highly mobile workforce.

The Directions include, but are not limited to, freight truck drivers, pilot/support vehicle drivers, removalists, rail drivers and rail support crew, where these employees are required to travel from or through a ‘high’ or an ‘extreme’ risk jurisdiction for work.

New directions make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory (external site) for WA’s port workers who board or work with exposed vessels. A pop-up vaccination clinic will be available at Fremantle Port on 30 September to make it easier for workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Victorian update

Based on the latest health advice, Victoria will be elevated to the extreme risk (external site) category from 12.01am Wednesday, 29 September, 2021. This means travel from Victoria to Western Australia will not be permitted.

Under this category, exemptions for approved travellers has been further restricted to Commonwealth and State officials, Members of Parliament, diplomats and specialist or extraordinary circumstances determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or the Chief Health Officer.

These approved travellers are subject to the following conditions, unless otherwise advised, and are required to:

  • undertake mandatory hotel quarantine at a State quarantine facility for 14 days at their expense
  • get tested for COVID-19 on days one, five and 13
  • have returned a negative COVID-19 PCR test in the past 72 hours
  • receipt of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, if eligible.

Other states

New Zealand

In line with all other Australian jurisdictions, travel from New Zealand is treated as travel from an international location (external site).

Variants

To date, 160 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 91 Delta strain.

Visit WA Health’s HealthyWA website for the latest information on COVID-19.

Follow us on Twitter: WAHealth

* Cumulative testing and daily vaccination data will be reported on Tuesday, 28 September 2021.

** WA vaccination data for the WA COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard is sourced from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). AIR is a national register maintained by the Australian Government that records all vaccines given to all people in Australia. WA data includes all COVID-19 vaccinations in WA, whether administered by WA Health, Australian Government providers or other providers (including GPs). WA previously reported only WA Health data. Note that the dashboard does not update until after 2pm Monday to Friday. A vaccine dashboard data interpretation guide (external site) is also available to help you.