Perth plunge into three-day lockdown over quarantine hotel cluster
© (Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)
Mark McGowan reaffirms a post-lockdown transition period for the Perth and Peel regions at Dumas House on February 05, 2021 in Perth, Australia.
Perth and the Peel region have been plunged into a three-day lockdown after several people contracted COVID-19 while staying in hotel quarantine.
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The lockdown will begin at midnight tonight. Masks will be mandatory from 6pm, although Premier Mark McGowan recommended people wear them immediately.
Anzac Day services around the Perth and Peel regions have been cancelled, with Mr McGowan urging people to take part in driveway dawn services instead.
It comes after a Victorian man this morning tested positive in Melbourne after completing 14 days of quarantine at a WA hotel.
Man spent up to five days in community while infectious
Mr McGowan confirmed a close contact of the man in Perth — a woman with two children who he stayed with in Kardinya in Perth’s south after completing quarantine — has also tested positive after having a rapid COVID test.
The 54-year-old man left hotel quarantine on April 17 but did not return to Melbourne until April 21.
Mr McGowan said that meant he spent up to five days in the community infectious.
The WA Health Department is updating the list of affected sites progressively as contact tracers try to track all of his movements.
His movements include going to a Malaysian restaurant with the friend he was staying with.
On April 18, the man visited a swimming pool in the southern suburbs, had coffee in the suburb of Leeming, dinner in Northbridge and then stayed the night at St Catherine’s College at the University of Western Australia.
The next day, he went to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, went to Northbridge again and again stayed at St Catherine’s College.
On April 20, he visited Kings Park and Northbridge.
On April 21, he had breakfast in the common area at St Catherine’s College before being driven by his friend to the airport.
There he caught QF 778 at 1.05pm to Melbourne, with 257 passengers on board.
Those passengers are self-isolating and being tested in Victoria.
Contact tracing teams have been sent to all the WA locations where the COVID-positive man went.
Exemptions for leaving home
People cannot leave the lockdown zones without an exemption.
There are four reasons why people can leave their home during this period.
- For work, because they cannot work from home or remotely.
- To shop for essentials, like groceries, medicines and necessary supplies.
- For medical and healthcare needs, including compassionate requirements and looking after the vulnerable.
- For one hour of exercise, with up to four people and with masks, unless it is vigorous exercise.
‘We need to stay the course together’
The Premier told people to get tested if they felt unwell.
“I want to remind everyone that if you are unwell, more than ever, stay home and get tested if you are symptomatic,” Mr McGowan said.
“We need to go back to what we know best. We need to keep ourselves safe. We have all done this before and it has kept us safe. It is crucial we are calmly and sensibly keeping the community safe.
“I know for many Western Australians this will be disruptive. My thanks go to everyone for their patience and understanding.
“We need to stay the course together. Take care of your loved ones and be respectful of others.”
Video: NSW probes possible second spread in quarantine hotel (ABC NEWS)
Mr McGowan said children under 12 did not have to wear a mask, but for all others it was mandatory, with some exceptions.
“Over the short three-day lockdown you must wear a mask unless you are in your home, in your car with the people you live with or doing vigorous exercise.
Weddings, funerals to go ahead
Pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants will close except for takeaway food.
Weddings and funerals can go ahead, but with a limit of 100 people, not including staff, and masks will have to be worn.
These will be the only exceptions for restaurants and other event locations.
Gyms and indoor sporting venues will shut and there will be no community sport allowed.
Playgrounds, skate parks and outdoor recreational facilities will close, as will cinemas, entertainment venues and casinos.
Large religious gatherings and places of worship, libraries and cultural institutions will close.
People can only enter the Perth and Peel regions only to access or deliver essential health and emergency services and other essential requirements or returning residents.
No visitors will be allowed to hospitals, residential aged care or disability facilities unless for exceptional circumstances.
Shoppers in Perth and Peel have been flocking to supermarkets and other shops, with queues forming before the Premier made his announcement.
Man stayed in room next to mother and child
The man who tested positive in Victoria had been on the same floor of the Mercure Hotel as a pregnant woman and her four-year-old daughter from the UK who also tested positive after their stay.
They contracted the virus from an infected couple who had returned from India and were staying in a room opposite them.
Mr McGowan said 16 other people who had been quarantining on the same floor had now left.
He said so far 13 of them had returned negative COVID-19 results and the rest of the tests were due soon.
The infected man had been in a room next to the mother and child from the UK and opposite and one down from the couple returned from India.
Dockers to play at empty stadium
Mr McGowan has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to halve WA’s international arrival cap from 1,025 to 512 a week for the next month.
“It’s important we have a pause on the number of cases coming into our quarantine facilities,” Mr McGowan said.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson urged anyone leaving Perth for the long weekend not to rush.
“Do not rush around. We accept this is highly disruptive and it is, though, based on the public health advice,” Commissioner Dawson said.
He confirmed the AFL game on Saturday between the Fremantle Dockers and North Melbourne in Perth would go ahead but with no fans.
The Perth Wildcats basketball and Western Force rugby games will go ahead tonight with crowds, but people will have to wear masks.
NZ travel bubble suspended
Travel between New Zealand and Western Australia is on hold.
The New Zealand government said health officials were in contact with their Australian counterparts and were completing a risk assessment.
It said a flight due to leave Perth for New Zealand later tonight would not be taking off, and it would be providing an update on Saturday.
Fresh hotel review as testing ramped up
Mr McGowan defended his Government’s handling of hotel quarantine, despite the April 16 report from the Chief Health Officer warning about the high risk hotels like the Mercure presented.
He said the report stated ventilation issues were manageable if certain precautions were put in place.
“We’ve been putting those precautions in place,” he said.
“But the hotels were not built for this purpose.
“We’re trying to improve it whilst we have these people actually in the hotels.”
CCTV is being installed to replace security guards and HEPA filters are being introduced to improve air quality.
Mr McGowan said there would be a review of which hotels would continue to be used in light of the outbreak at the Mercure Hotel and the request to halve international arrivals.
“Obviously, it’s quite difficult now to continue to use them for returning Australians,’ he said.
“Perhaps they can be used for seasonal workers.”
He confirmed that would be the case for the Mercure, which would house quarantining seasonal workers from Tonga and Vanuatu, considered “extremely low risk” countries.
COVID testing will be ramped up over the next three days and the government will decide on Monday whether or not to extend the lockdown.
Source: Thanks msn.com