As it happened: WA records no new local COVID-19 cases after as Perth, Peel region and state’s south-west enters hard lockdown

WA has recorded no further new cases of COVID-19 overnight with just over 3000 tests undertaken. Premier Mark McGowan said among those tested were 13 close contacts of the Perth quarantine hotel security guard whose positive test result sent the state into lockdown on Sunday.

Find Tuesday’s live coronavirus coverage here: WA records no new local COVID-19 cases; scientists fear virus variant is ‘taking the edge off’ vaccines

We’re closing the blog for today, thank you for joining us.

The news was largely positive on Western Australia’s first day of a five-day lockdown, however there was still reason to be cautious.

More than 3000 COVID tests did not result in any new local cases being discovered, WA Premier Mark McGowan revealed.

However, he said the hotel quarantine security guard who tested positive at the weekend, sparking the state’s lockdown, had indeed contracted the more contagious UK strain of COVID-19.

Thirteen close contacts had returned negative tests, but 11 were moved into hotel quarantine as an extra precaution. All up, there were 66 close contacts of the man identified, all of whom have been tested, or were due to be tested on Monday.

It’s about this time you’ve probably got a few questions about the different variants of the virus that have popped up around the world – Liam Mannix’s explainer article can help answer those.

AMA WA president Andrew Miller said the 3000 tests carried out overnight was a “great start”, but was disappointed the testing did not continue through the night.

Dr Miller said WA’s testing system had “never really been used before”, and called on the government to improve testing surge capacity to make sure the results they were getting were a true representation of what was out in the community.

Authorities, meanwhile, are looking into how the virus escaped the state’s hotel quarantine system.

“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure we find out exactly what happened to prevent it from happening again,” Mr McGowan said.

While largely accepted by the WA public – even if begrudgingly, and with a splash of panic-buying to boot – the move to lock down the state wasn’t finding a fan in federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

“In terms of an elimination strategy, it, you know, might be a sort of great political slogan but it’s not a realistic approach to this virus,” he said, suggesting Mr McGowan was being overly cautious due to a looming state election in March.

Mr Dutton said he supported the state decisions on lockdowns but he did not have the medical advice as to why they had occurred.

“Obviously WA has made this decision and it is for Premier McGowan to explain the logic and reasoning,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was more diplomatic, saying localised lockdowns were a good way to suppress the virus.

“One of the things you learn, as you go through a pandemic like this, is you don’t get to set the rules. The pandemic tends to write those, and you need to work and adapt to the things as they change,” he said.

One minute you’re soaking up the sun on an idyllic island getaway, the next you’re being ushered onto a ferry and rushed back to the mainland, straight into a five-day lockdown.

Hotel Rottnest standing deserted on a summer weekend afternoon was only one of the strange sights and sounds on the island on Sunday as authorities abruptly ejected thousands of holidaymakers.

Rottnest Island jetty was packed as authorities moved to evacuate people after the announcement WA was going into a five-day lockdown on Sunday.

Soon after Premier Mark McGowan’s midday press conference, loudspeakers began to blare, telling patrons to leave as soon as possible.

There were more than 2000 people on the island at the weekend.

Rottnest staff darted door to door, checking all had heard the message, as people who had booked for the week began emptying fridges and throwing a week’s worth of food into whatever receptacles they could find.

Ferry companies immediately began dealing with floods of calls from people wanting to change their ticket times, even as they started mobilising additional vessels to get everyone out by sundown.

Radio 6PR’s Perth Live host Oliver Peterson was on holiday with his wife and toddler and faced an anxious 90-minute queue for the ferry.

“The workers were trying to get home as well,” he said.

“People were taking their clothes off and getting in the water to stay cool.

“I didn’t mind going back, but it was just that fear that comes from the immediacy of it, hearing that the ferries are not an essential service.”

Read Emma Young’s full article here. 

Perth Festival has announced it will postpone and reschedule performances as it was due to open across Perth on the last day of lockdown – Friday, February 5.

Lotterywest Films screenings are planned to resume this coming Saturday, while live performances and visual arts exhibitions will resume after the weekend “to allow artists, crew and venues the time to complete final rehearsals and other technical requirements”.

Tim Minchin’s show Apart/Together, with WASO, is among those to be postponed. Credit: Damian Bennett

The following shows to be rescheduled are: Projections at City of Lights; Tim Minchin: Apart/Together with WASO; Ballet at the Quarry; Archives of Humanity; Witness Stand; HOUSE; STC Courtyard Sessions; One & Many; Dreams of Place; Galup; and I’ll Tell You in Person.
Organisers say affected ticketholders will have their tickets honoured and can expect to be contacted over coming days about the changes.

They have asked that people show “patience and understanding” and refrain from contacting the box office.

“This is a pause for Perth Festival, not a stop, and we look forward to being able to celebrate our community, our artists and our Western Australian stories in a safe and welcoming way once again,” they said.

Despite the rumour mill already suggesting there had been community spread, the state’s record of zero new cases could be trusted, according to Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller.

However Dr Miller said it didn’t mean there weren’t false negatives among the 3000 already tested and to encourage true results, people needed to be seen more efficiently, especially those with children, and beyond 10pm.

AMA WA president Dr Andrew Miller. Credit: Marta Pascual Juanola

“It was a disappointment to us that testing did not continue through the night, we think that would have been a good option for a lot of people to avoid the heat today,” he said.

“But hopefully the government can improve its surge capacity because we really need to get our numbers quite high in order to be sure that these zero results that we’re getting are a true representation of risk in the community.”

Although New South Wales had peak testing figures of more that 40,000 a day, Dr Miller said yesterday afternoon’s result of 3000 was “a great start” and the next five days would give authorities a good sense of any potential clusters.

“We’re hoping for donut days throughout the week – all zeros – and then perhaps that will be enough that we’ll know by then if we’re looking at a cluster or clusters that could require a longer period of time, because we know that each cluster generates about three weeks’ worth of cases before it is able to shut down,” he said.

He said hospitals will be “war gaming” what a potential four to six-week lockdown would look like but that didn’t mean they had insider information or test results that people didn’t know about.

But testing facilities turning people away because of long wait periods proved the system wasn’t serving people as it needed to.

“We need to be looking closely at WA’s testing system – it’s never really been used before – and how it’s performing over the next few days and make the changes that need to be made to make it an easy experience for people, so we don’t miss the virus because it’s hard to get tested,” Dr Miller said.

Being made to wait with children for six hours in the sun, only to be told to return again even if they return a negative test, would only put parents off, he said.

Social media influencers and reality TV stars who left Britain for sun-soaked destinations, citing work purposes, have been slammed by the government, and by fans, for maintaining opulent presences on social media while those at home remain subject to a third nationwide lockdown as the coronavirus crisis rages on.

Yazmin Oukhellou, from UK reality show The Only Way is Essex, is one of the celebrities facing a backlash over their travels during the pandemic. Credit: Getty Images

But now, they face a desperate rush to fly back home by a Friday afternoon deadline. Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, said on Thursday that the UK would begin banning direct flights from the United Arab Emirates - which includes the luxury tourist city of Dubai - to its “red list” of countries subject to a travel ban.

Last month the UAE was removed from Britain’s travel corridor list following a surge in infections, meaning that those arriving from the UAE, including Dubai, would have to self-quarantine for 10 days.

Dubai has become one of the top attractions for those seemingly seeking to dodge Britain’s stay-at-home measures, with celebrities flocking to the city to pose poolside and bask in the heat. Many stars have documented their trips in detail, drawing widespread rebukes.

While some have argued that their trips were genuinely necessary for business reasons, many appear to have exploited a business loophole, while millions of people have been confined to their houses and separated from their loved ones. Britain has recorded more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths. In recent days, the British government has vowed to clamp down on those attempting to embark on nonessential trips.

“Technically any influencer can go to Dubai take a few photos and claim it’s work,” wrote one user on Instagram recently. Many others declared they were unfollowing celebrities posting travel photos.

Read the full Traveller article here.

While “mutant” might bring to mind a vision of a three-headed comic-book creature, the scientific meaning is less scary: a mutation is a random change in an organism’s genetic code – when one of the letters of the code is switched out for another as the code is copied – and this is what happens in the case of a virus replicating inside our cells.

Often, these changes have no effect on the organism. Sometimes, they can change the way it looks or functions.

A variant is a virus with a collection of mutations – such as B.1.1.7 – that turns up often enough for scientists to take an interest. That’s different from a strain, which denotes essentially a whole new virus type, or a virus that has changed so much it causes different symptoms. B.1.1.7 is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 is a strain of coronavirus.

So far, scientists are most concerned by three variants of COVID-19: B.1.1.7, first spotted in Britain, 501Y.V2, first spotted in South Africa (you’ll also hear this one referred to as B.1.351) and P.1, first spotted in Brazil.

Read Liam Mannix’s explainer on the new COVID-19 variants here.

The man who sparked Perth’s COVID-19 lockdown does have the UK strain of the virus, Premier Mark McGowan has confirmed.

The variant is thought to be more contagious and potentially more dangerous.

As investigations continue into how the man contracted the virus, Mr McGowan said the air-conditioning system used in the quarantine hotel involved was safe and there was no evidence of any problems.

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said that if by mid-week the close contacts of the man returned negative test results it would be a good sign that the man is not a “good spreader” of the virus.

Australian Medical Association WA president Dr Andrew Miller address media in Perth regarding the latest COVID-19 news on Monday.

That’s all from me today.

My colleague Cameron Myles, also from Perth, will take over the blog now and bring you the latest news from WA as well as key developments from around the country.

Despite WA’s five-day lockdown being considered an extended school holiday, Premier Mark McGowan has urged teachers to prepare for potential remote learning.

While the Premier said in his Monday press conference the expectation was that schools would return next week, it was a “reasonable precaution” for teachers and teaching staff to anticipate a potential at-home learning scenario.

“If they [teachers] have to get the resources they need from school to undertake that preparation that’s a good thing,” he said.

“But our expectation at this point in time is schools will go back next week.”

So far no plans for lessons are being provided for WA schoolchildren.Credit: Tanya Macheda

Before the press conference, West Australian Primary Principals Association president Ian Anderson said the schools had been instructed that the lockdown was an extended holiday and that no set lessons would be provided over the five days.

Speaking to Liam Bartlett on 6PR radio, Mr Anderson said schools and teachers were still waiting for clarity as to what the lockdown means for them and what will need to be done if the lockdown is extended.

“At this point in time, schools have been instructed that holidays are continuing for the children, so we’re not providing any lessons,” he said.

“If parents did, however, want to find something for their children to do, there are things on the department’s website, some activities and such that parents can engage with their children with, or enjoy the rest of the holidays.”

Mr Anderson said that, as for professional development for teachers, there were options in place they could take advantage of, but that would be in the case of a lockdown extension.

“We do have Webex facilities in the department and schools were using that last year, especially as we were preparing for remote learning, so that is an option,” he said.

“If we go into a situation where we extend the lockdown then teachers will be preparing for remote learning but we will wait and see what’s going to be happening there.

“There is also professional learning that teachers can do online through a number of courses … but some of them are, of course, looking after their own children.”