Public health measures will be relaxed further from 12.01am Thursday April 14, as Western Australia continues its soft landing through the Omicron wave.
Based on the latest health advice, the State Government can deliver on its commitment to ease the 500 patron limit for hospitality venues, nightclubs, convention centres and function centres from tomorrow.
The interim capacity limit has been in place since March 31 when Level 2 measures, introduced at the time of the full border opening, were eased back to Level 1.
Public health and social measures to ease from 12.01am tomorrow (April 14) includes:
- refined close contact definition to align with National Cabinet’s definition;
- limits to home and private outdoor gatherings will be removed;
- contact registration will only be required for people visiting a hospital;
- 500 capacity limit for all hospitality venues and function centres to be removed; and
- RAT testing on arrival no longer required for international and domestic travellers, with all arrivals at Perth Airport encouraged to take a free test on offer.
A close contact will now only be defined as a household-type contact or intimate partner of a COVID-19 case, that being a person who resides with or stays overnight in the same premises or has had more than four hours of cumulative contact with a COVID-19 case in a residential setting (residential care facility, congregate living facility, boarding school/house or maritime vessel), without wearing a mask, or someone directed by WA Health that they are a close contact.
People in isolation as a close contact under the existing definition will be able to leave isolation at 12.01am tomorrow (April 14). This applies to people who:
- had at least 15 minutes face-to-face contact where a mask was not worn by the exposed person and the person with COVID-19; and
- someone that had greater than two hours within a small room with a case during their infectious period where masks have been removed for this period by the exposed person and the person with COVID-19.
However, this does not include household type contacts or intimate partners.
The refined close contact definition means schools will no longer need to contact trace classroom or equivalent contacts when school resumes for Term 2.
For more information, visit www.wa.gov.au
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“WA’s soft landing is on course, with our high vaccination rate resulting in actual hospitalisations and ICU admissions well below what was projected.
“This is fantastic news and as a result, we can deliver on our plan and go even further to relax public health measures safely.
“We need to maintain a degree of caution and wear masks as we continue to ride the height of the Omicron wave, and with COVID infections in the community remaining high.
“We often see case numbers peak towards the end of the week as testing numbers increase throughout the week.
“This means we must continue to monitor and review the situation regularly, taking into account the best of our expert health advice.
“We don’t want any public health measure in place for any longer than it needs to be, but like always, we encourage everyone to be COVID safe and use common sense.
“That means stay home if unwell, get tested if you have any symptoms, get vaccinated and continue to maintain good hygiene.”
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“Our excellent vaccination rates and public health and social measures ensured our community was well protected during the height of the Omicron outbreak.
“Thanks to the hard work of the public and our frontline staff, Western Australia has seen lower than predicted hospitalisations and ICU admissions, which is an incredible achievement.
“We are now in a position to further ease some of our health measures as predicted, including moving to a new close contact definition, which is welcome news.
“The Chief Health Officer has recommended mask wearing should continue for the time being and we thank all Western Australians for their continued co-operation with this.
“Please continue to get vaccinated, including children aged five and above when eligible, as this is the best protection we have against Omicron.”
