McGowan announces ease to COVID restrictions and amendments to close contact definition.
Mark McGowan has confirmed that there will be a number of COVID restriction changes in Western Australia across venues taking effect from midnight tonight.
Venue capacity
The 500 person capacity limit at hospitality venues and all limits at private gatherings indoors and outdoors will be lifted.
SafeWA check-in
As of midnight tonight Western Australians will not be required to use SafeWA check-in at venues except for when attending hospitals.
This means contact registration will not be required when you go out to the pub or café anymore.
Proof of vaccination will still be required.
Updated Close Contact definition
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/home 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.
This means only household members, and intimate partners of positive cases will be forced to isolate, as well as those who have spent four or more hours of cumulative contact, without masks, in a residential/home setting with a positive case.
Those people who are currently in isolation under the broader definition can leave isolation at midnight tonight, so long as they don’t have any symptoms.
Airport arrivals
RAT testing on arrival will no longer be required for international and domestic travellers in the Perth Airport.
However, arrivals at Perth Airport will be provided with a free RAT and will be encouraged to use them, and register any positive results with WA Health.
Western Australia COVID-19 overview
Overnight Western Australia recorded 7,426 new cases, taking our state total to 39,591 active cases.
In encouraging news McGowan stated hospital and ICU numbers are lower than predicted with 215 cases currently in hospitals across the state and 4 cases in ICU.
Currently, 77.5% of Western Australians aged 16 and over have received their third dose.
For more information visit wa.gov.au.
Further Perth news on So Perth.
