Western Australia’s border with the east coast will be hardened even further from midnight tonight (11.59pm Thursday, July 9), given the serious situation in Victoria.
Exemptions for all people who have been in Victoria in the last 14 days will be tightened, building on the existing COVID-19 protection measures for WA.
No one will be allowed into Western Australia if they have been in Victoria in the previous 14 days, unless they meet the new exemption list or would normally reside in Western Australia.
Returning WA residents will continue to be required to self-quarantine for 14 days and will be subject to a mandatory COVID-19 test on Day 11.
The number of exemptions will be reduced significantly, meaning only specific essential workers, transport and freight workers and those persons approved by the State Emergency Coordinator, on the advice of the Chief Health Officer, will be permitted to enter WA.
In addition, effective from today, everyone who is permitted to enter WA, who has been in Victoria for the previous 14 days, will be served with a notice on arrival compelling them to take a COVID-19 test on Day 11 of their time in WA or at any point when symptoms develop.
Under the State of Emergency, the WA Police Force will continue to perform checks on arrivals and have the power to enforce the COVID-19 test requirement with a fine of $5,000.
The McGowan Government will continue to monitor the situation with authorities, with the oversight of the best of health advice for Western Australia.
Today’s announcement to slow the flow of arrivals into Western Australia follows recent moves to reduce the number of international arrivals and tighten entry into the State through exemption classifications.
As stated by Acting Premier Roger Cook:
“WA’s strong border measures have enabled us to open our economy inside WA and get back to a comfortable level of normal, in a COVID safe way.
“What has occurred over east is devastating. We feel deeply for the community and what it’s going through and WA has sent health experts to support Victoria to help in times like these.
“WA does have strict border restrictions, robust protection measures for quarantine and consistent testing and contact tracing programs.
“Those systems have worked successfully for more than three months and have allowed our State’s economy to continue during the pandemic.
“However, with the situation fast evolving over east, we need to strengthen our measures to best protect the citizens of our State.
“Due to our success of having no community transmission, we have seen a gradual increase in arrivals into Western Australia, both internationally and domestically.
“That’s why we need to step up our response, to slow the flow of arrivals and reduce the risk of cases being imported into our State.
“Predicaments like what the east is facing is why we are doing everything within our powers to strengthen containment lines to keep WA safe.
“WA’s hard border with the east is working in that we have reduced the number of arrivals by 98 per cent of what we would normally expect pre-COVID.
“However now is the time to bolster our COVID-19 measures further to better safeguard Western Australians – and that’s what we’re doing.”
