The planned February 5 reopening of Western Australia’s borders has been cancelled amid a surge in Omicron-driven hospitalisations on the east coast, but Premier Mark McGowan has promised a more compassionate approach.
During a press conference this evening, Mr McGowan said the initial health modelling developed to support the February 5 date was based on the Delta variant and it would be “irresponsible” and “reckless” for the state government to ignore the increased threat posed by the Omicron variant.
Under the amended border plan, WA will retain its hard border from 12:01am on February 5, but there will be new settings focusing on safety and compassion.
Approved travellers will be allowed to arrive with testing and quarantine, with exemptions for Western Australians with legitimate family connections, those entering on compassionate grounds, those seeking urgent medical treatment, for national and state security, and those with special skills.
Interstate travellers into WA will be permitted if they have an approved G2G pass, are triple-dose vaccinated, return a negative pre-departure Rapid Antigen Test, and undertake 14 days of self-quarantine.
International travellers that meet the federal requirements to enter Australia will need to undertake 14 days of mandatory quarantine and present for PCR testing on days six, nine and 12.
The border controls are expected to be reviewed over the course of the next month, but Mr McGowan would not be drawn on a new date.
The state’s COVID Transition Plan was announced on November 5, with the proposal hinging on WA reaching a double dose vaccination rate of 90 per cent for those over the age of 12.
The February 5 date was announced in mid-December, accompanied by health modelling which suggested as many as 200 fewer Western Australians would die of COVID-19 if the state waited until 90 per cent vaccination to reopen rather than opening at 80 per cent in December.
That milestone was on track to be reached, with the state currently sitting at a full-dose vaccination rate of 88.9 per cent and two weeks to go.
But Mr McGowan said Omicron had presented new challenges and it was vital the state increased its third dose vaccination rate before reopening to protect Western Australians.
“Allowing hundreds if not thousands of people potentially carrying the variant into the state would cause a surge in cases, in hospitalisations and would result in thousands of people being out of work and school,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the world changed in December when Omicron arrived.
“The Omicron variant is a whole new threat that we cannot ignore.
“It has changed everything and we don’t yet have a full picture of what it could mean.
“There’s insufficient data to see what it would look like, except, based on what we’ve seen in the eastern states, we know it is a very bad situation.
“There has been a 902 per cent increase in COVID-related hospitalisations since the arrival of Omicron in December.
“It’s vital that we increase our third dose vaccination rate and protect children.”
Mr McGowan acknowledged the delay would not welcome news to a number of sectors, but said the state government would continue to work with industry to determine what they need and how it could assist.
He also clarified that the amended border reopening arrangement would not change the implementation of restrictions on the unvaccinated.
The announcement comes just hours after the Australian Nursing Federation pleaded with the state government to reconsider the date, after 12 healthcare workers from Fiona Stanley Hospital were sent into isolation after being deemed close contacts of a COVID positive patient.
ANF WA president Mark Olson said the conflicting advice allegedly issued to those workers by the health department was further evidence the state was unprepared for the border reopening.
“I’m concerned that we are two years into the pandemic and two weeks away from the borders reopening and we still don’t have clear guidelines from the Department of Health,” he said.
“We needed clear guidelines for the staff yesterday, but at the very least we should have them today or tomorrow.
“I think it’s high time that any staff that are to be interacting with a COVID patient are to be supplied with an N95 mask.
“The lack of information to our health department is deadly.
“Please do not open the border on February 5, we are not ready.”
The news comes almost one week after the state government reintroduced a mask mandate for the Perth, Peel and South West regions as it attempts to control the Cockburn Omicron cluster.
WA recorded another 10 cases today, five of which were locally-acquired cases that had been within the community.
