The McGowan Government has stepped up its border protection measures to protect Western Australians from COVID-19 in light of the unfolding situations in Victoria and New South Wales.
The new arrangements have been put in place based on advice from the Chief Health Officer and Police Commissioner.
Effective immediately, anyone coming to WA from Victoria, unless exempt, will be given a direction to quarantine in a hotel facility, at their cost, and continue to meet the mandatory testing requirements.
In light of the unfolding situation in New South Wales, the McGowan Government has also announced a tougher regime for all arrivals from that State.
Effective immediately, anyone coming to WA from New South Wales will be subject to mandatory COVID-19 testing.
They will also continue to be required to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine period, unless exempt.
Additional measures will come into effect from Monday, July 20 (11.59pm Sunday, July 19).
From Monday, the strict conditions that were applied to Victorian arrivals last week, will also apply to arrivals from New South Wales.
Aligned with the stricter rules for Victorian arrivals, the exemption list for NSW arrivals will be reduced significantly. It will be limited to:
- certain senior Government Officials;
- certain active military personnel;
- a member of the Commonwealth Parliament or their staff;
- a person carrying out functions under a law of the Commonwealth;
- a person coming to WA at the request of the Chief Health Officer;
- a person responsible for transport freight or logistics; and
- anyone who is given approval by the SEC or an authorised officer.
Anyone who is granted an exemption under par 5(e)(ii) of the Directions, will be required to undertake 14 days’ home quarantine and will also be required to take a COVID-19 test upon their arrival.
They will also be required to undertake a second test on day 11 of their quarantine period.
There may be some Western Australians in New South Wales who have already been granted an exemption to return home, via the G2G app.
These Western Australians are strongly encouraged to make their way home to WA immediately, before the new regime starts Monday.
This tightened travel arrangement for NSW will be in place for two-week period from its starting date and will be reviewed.
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
“Our message to any Western Australian thinking of traveling over east is simple – don’t go. It’s in the interests of all Western Australians that this travel ceases immediately.
“We’ve got some of the toughest measures in place already but we’ve always maintained that if we have to make them tougher, we will.
“The escalating case in Victoria is a huge cause of concern. The numbers continue to climb and until they can get a handle on it we cannot risk our situation unnecessarily. We will continue to provide extra resources to help Victoria while we bolster our measures here on the ground.
“That’s why today we have swiftly stepped up measures by further introducing a tougher regime for people travelling from the eastern states.
“We make no apology when it comes to better protecting the health of Western Australians and further mitigating the risk of COVID-19 in the WA community.
“As these tougher measures are introduced they will impact some people, we get that.
“We thank the WA community for their support and their patience. Western Australians have made some sacrifices as we’ve battled our way through this pandemic. We are mindful of this however we need to do what is in the best interests of Western Australians and to ensure we do not undermine the efforts already made.
“Our border protections, quarantine arrangements, strong testing regime and contact tracing remains paramount to our robust COVID-19 suite of measures.
“We’ll continue to monitor the evolving situation over east and as always, will take into account the best of health advice for Western Australians.”
%20photo%20resized.jpg)
