Queensland Couple Test Positive To Covid After Arriving in Western Australia

As WA prepares for a surge in Covid cases once borders reopen, a reality check has been issued leading up to Christmas, with two Queensland travellers testing positive for Covid. 

The couple returned a negative test before leaving Queensland for Perth last Sunday, however, a second test delivered on Tuesday returned a positive result.

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Health authorities are urging anyone onboard Virgin Australia flight VA470 from Brisbane on December 19, along with anyone who was at the T1 Virgin domestic arrivals area from 10pm-11pm to monitor for symptoms.

Travellers onboard the flight in rows 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are considered close contacts and are required to isolate.

A 7-Eleven service station on Clayton Street in Midland, has been added to the exposure site list after one of the infected travellers visited the venue for an “extremely brief” period on Monday between 12pm-12.15pm.

The pair are now in self-quarantine, with four of their close household contacts testing negative so far.

Meanwhile, WA authorities are “highly likely” to review the state’s reopening roadmap amid concerns of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the eastern seaboard.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the state government would be keeping a close watch on cases in NSW to determine if WA can safely reopen as planned on February 5. 

“I think it is highly likely the West Australians government will be looking very, very carefully at what is happening in New South Wales with the hospitalisation rates, and yet again WA will be able to learn from that experience,” he said.

“If we get to late January and we’re seeing large numbers of cases but really not a lot of severe illness, then really WA’s border may open the way it’s been set.

“But I think if we’re seeing the hospital system in New South Wales collapsing, I would expect the Premier to keep our border shut, or at least, very heavily restricted,” he warned.

Dr Khorshid has confirmed that the modelling which the state's reopening has been informed by is now outdated due to the new Omicron strain.

"Unfortunately, the differences that are apparent from Omicron means that all of our modelling is out of date"

- Dr Korshid

WA president of the AMA Mark Duncan-Smith said with a much faster doubling rate than Delta, a review of restrictions is necessary in the lead-up to reopening the state.

"If necessary, we may need to have stricter controls when February the 5th comes around, hopefully to avoid lockdowns," he said.

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