27 August 2021

COVID-19 update 27 August 2021

The State’s total stands at 1084. To date, 1051 people have recovered from the virus in WA.

WA Health is monitoring 24 active COVID-19 cases: four are in hotel quarantine and 20 cases are crew members on the MV Ken Hou vessel. The vessel will remain berthed at Fremantle Port with all positive crew members remaining on-board and their health status monitored daily.

Testing clinics

Yesterday, 925 people were swabbed at State-run clinics. A list of all testing clinics is available on the HealthyWA website. To date, there have been 1,639,343 COVID-19 tests performed in WA. Of those, 194,938 were from regional WA.

Vaccination

Since vaccination numbers were reported yesterday, 27,330 vaccine doses were recorded in WA, of which 14,222 were second doses. The total includes 4806 historic vaccine doses*. These figures represent vaccinations at State-run clinics and doses administered through the Commonwealth rollout**.

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

Donations to Afghan evacuees

The State Government is continuing to work with its community sector partners to support evacuees from Afghanistan who have recently arrived in Perth.

While many members of the Western Australian community are keen to show their support through the donation of goods and food, these donations are not needed at this time and will not be accepted at quarantine hotels.

There are strict COVID safety restrictions at WA hotel quarantine facilities and it is important that people do not visit these locations, especially during quarantine periods.

The best way to can help is to make a financial donation through the Australian Red Cross Afghanistan Crisis Appeal (external site).

Border controls

New South Wales

Based on the latest health advice, New South Wales has been elevated to the extreme risk (external site) category. This means travel from New South Wales to Western Australia is not permitted, except for:

  • Commonwealth and State officials
  • Members of Parliament
  • diplomats
  • specialist or extraordinary circumstances determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or the Chief Health Officer.

Travellers approved under specialist or extraordinary circumstances are subject to the following conditions, unless otherwise advised. They must:

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

Under the extreme risk setting, if a Western Australian returning from overseas falls into one of the above categories, is approved to enter WA and has completed 14 days of supervised quarantine in NSW – they will also be required to undergo 14 days of self-quarantine in a suitable premises in WA.

New Zealand

Based on the most recent health advice, New Zealand has been elevated to a ‘medium risk’ jurisdiction (external site) under Western Australia’s controlled border category. This means travel from New Zealand is no longer be permitted unless you are an approved traveller.

All approved travellers arriving in Western Australia from New Zealand must:

  • self-quarantine in a suitable premises for 14 days.
  • present for an initial COVID-19 test within 48 hours.
  • present for a COVID-19 test if any symptoms develop during quarantine.
  • present for a COVID-19 test on day 12 after arrival in WA (if still in WA).     

Anyone who arrived in WA before 12.01am Thursday, 26 August, and has been to a New Zealand exposure site at the specific times must self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested within 48 hours and at day 12.

Northern Territory

All people arriving in Western Australia from the Northern Territory who have visited an exposure site (external site) is required to self-quarantine for 14 days from the date and time they last visited the site. They must get tested for COVID-19 (within 48 hours) and isolate until they receive a negative result. They must also get tested on day 11.

This includes people crossing into the Kimberley from the Northern Territory. A person who refuses to get tested will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Anyone from the Darwin and Katherine areas who did not visit the venues and has arrived from August 12 to 16 is advised to get tested if they develop any symptoms that may be related to COVID-19.

Queensland and South Australia

Based on the latest health advice, Queensland has been transitioned to a low risk category (external site) while South Australia has been assessed as very low risk (external site).

The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria are at medium risk (external site). Tasmania is considered very low risk (external site).

Variants

To date, 149 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 80 Delta strain.

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

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* Historic vaccine doses are vaccinations that were administered up to 10 days before the current date but were recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register since the last report.

** 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.