The McGowan Government’s WA free RAT program has expanded, with thousands of additional free RATs available for collection for close contacts across regional Western Australia.
RATs will be available for collection at more than 70 additional regional COVID-19 testing sites across the State, in the Gascoyne, Goldfields-Esperance, Great Southern, Kimberley, Mid West, Peel, Pilbara, South West and Wheatbelt regions.
To access free RATs at these locations, people with no symptoms are required to verbally confirm they are a close contact to access their 10 free RATs. They may also collect RATs for other close contacts in their household up to a maximum of 30 RATs.
The additional locations further support the testing protocols for close contacts with no symptoms in WA’s regions who must return a daily negative RAT prior to leaving their place of isolation, for 7 days.
A full list of collection points is available on WA.gov.au
In addition to the provision of RATs to close contacts, the Australian-first WA Free RAT Program has delivered millions of RATs directly to WA households and through pop-ups at train stations, shopping centres and major events, which is in addition to the 12 million free RATs being provided to schools and childcare facilities for parents and carers, when required, to help them manage COVID-19 and stay safe.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“By providing more RATs through additional collection points in the wider community ensures RATs are more available in the community for people who should need access to quickly detect COVID-19.
“This is about reducing pressures on the family budget and limiting the spread of COVID in our community.
“The vast size of our State means those in the regions may not have the same level of access to supplies as those in the metropolitan regions.
“The expansion of free RATs at more than 70 additional sites in the regions further supports people who are close contacts and can help meet their daily testing requirements.”
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“People in remote and regional WA are certainly vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19, and we want to ensure all close contacts in our regions are equipped with RATs to manage COVID-19 as safely as possible.
“These dedicated COVID-19 testing sites are co-located at designated health campuses, so I urge people in our regions not to present to emergency departments for their RAT collection.
“Regional WA will have a large stock of RATs for close contacts, so don’t feel the need to rush and secure yours.
“As we settle into baseline public health measures, WA continues to be well-placed to live with COVID-19 in the community.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to WA Country Health for their continued efforts in supporting the community in regional WA.”
