WA records one Covid-19 case linked to backpacker
Western Australia has recorded another case linked to a backpacker who tested positive in the state.
WA News
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Western Australia has recorded one new local case of Covid, linked to an infected French backpacker who visited a number of locations across Perth.
The latest case brings to eight the number of locally acquired cases in this outbreak, WA Health said on Sunday.
The case had attended the Perth Mess Hall event, and was also staying at a hostel linked to the backpacker.
The person tested positive while in quarantine and is not considered to have been contagious while in the community.
The case will be officially counted in Monday’s numbers.
Meanwhile, another case was also reported overnight, with an overseas traveller in hotel quarantine testing positive.
A total of 3,387 tests were performed at WA public and private Covid clinics yesterday.
To date, 548 close contacts and 998 casual contacts have been identified with contact tracers working to identify exposure sites and follow up contacts.
It comes after WA recorded two new Covid-19 cases on Christmas Day, also linked to the backpacker.
The 25-year-old unvaccinated traveller has been in Australia since before the pandemic started.
He arrived in WA from Queensland on December 12 – only one hour before border restrictions were tightened.
After feeling unwell on Sunday, he got tested on Wednesday and had a “strong positive” result returned on Thursday.
After five people tested positive of Friday, health authorities upgraded the contact status for a Perth Mess Hall event on December 19, where about 400 people attended.
This was because four of those new infections were casual contacts of the man from the event. The fifth was a close contact. Now all those attendees are required to get tested and will miss Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, needing to quarantine for 14 days.
Premier Mark McGowan earlier said authorities suspected it was the Delta variant.
In a bid to contain the spread, the premier tightened the state’s border restrictions with South Australia and Queensland.
He also announced a mask mandate in the Perth and Peel regions until 6am on Tuesday, as well as restrictions at all licensed hospitality venues that can only operate with seated service from 6pm on Friday.
Originally published as WA records one Covid-19 case linked to backpacker
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