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The premier also encouraged West Australian residents to download the SafeWA app, which has proven to be a valuable source for contract tracing.
The lockdown was initiated on Sunday after a Perth hotel quarantine worker tested positive to the highly infectious UK strain of the virus.
The man, aged in his 20s, visited a number of locations while he was unknowingly infectious.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook has identified a number of changes in response to the most recent outbreak, which authorities believe started when a guard contracted Covid after sitting near the door of an infected traveller.
Earlier this week quarantine workers were instructed to wear masks at all times – this was different to the previous protocol where masks were only required when interacting with guests, according to the West Australian.
Strong winds fan forest fires in southwestern Australia 1 minute read
Sydney, Australia, Feb 4 (efe-epa).- Strong winds fanned a 126-kilometer (78-mile) long forest fire that is burning unchecked near the city of Perth in southwestern Australia threatening the homes of residents in adjoining areas, regional authorities warned Thursday.
The fire in Perth Hills, about 100 kilometers northeast of Perth, started on Monday and has burned down 81 homes and destroyed more than 10,000 hectares of land since then.
The strong winds, forecast to have speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour in the area where the fires are raging, have forced authorities to keep emergency warnings in place due to the “threat to lives and homes,” Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said.
Authorities Warn Perth’s Hard Lockdown to Combat the CCP Virus May Be Extended
Western Australian authorities remain unsure whether the state’s five-day lockdown will end as scheduled as they continue to investigate how the hotel quarantine security guard who triggered the lockdown contracted the CCP virus.
The guard at the Sheraton Four Points in Perth CBD, who has been confirmed to have the highly transmissible UK strain, attended 16 venues over several days while infected.
Consequently, two million Western Australians from Perth, the Peel region, and the South West have been plunged into a strict lockdown scheduled to finish on Feb. 5.
Western Australian health authorities have come under fire, amid claims they waited almost 12 hours before informing the federal government and other states of its first locally-acquired coronavirus case in almost 10 months.
A Perth quarantine hotel security guard contracted the highly-contagious UK strain of the virus, which sparked a five-day lockdown of the city and the state s Peel and south-west regions until at least Friday.
There are fears pandemic protocols may have breached amid reports the security guard visited around a dozen venues across Perth for up to five days while infectious.
Questions have also been raised as to why daily testing of quarantine hotel workers was only implemented in WA last Friday, despite a National Cabinet decision to roll out initiative three weeks earlier on January 8.