Covid-19 WA: Prime Minister congratulates state on reopening announcement

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has responded to a major announcement about Western Australia’s border rules.

Mark McGowan and Scott Morrison have clashed consistently throughout the pandemic but the Prime Minister has welcomed the Western Australian government’s plan to reopen its domestic borders.

The Premier announced the state will finally open on February 5, revealing the updated plan with a slight dig at other state leaders by declaring the highly cautious strategy more effective than state rivals.

“Our plan worked,” he told reporters on Monday afternoon.

“We have seen what’s happened in other states and have learned from it.”

Mr McGowan confirmed WA had reached 80 per cent vaccination rate with the opening date set in February to allow 90 per cent of the population to be fully vaccinated.

The Prime Minister welcomed the announcement and congratulated WA for lifting its vaccination rates.

“Australia is going to be connected and together again,” Mr Morrison said.

“This will be welcome news for thousands of Western Australians looking forward to reuniting with family and friends after so long apart.

“The people of WA have kept up their end of the deal to get vaccinated and governments are upholding their end by uniting the country again. Together, we’ve kept Western Australians safe and now WA is opening.”

Premier Mark McGowan said the WA borders will finally open. Picture: Morgan Sette

The drawn out plan was “based on health advice”, the Premier said, factoring in the likely slow down of jabs over the Christmas and New Year period and to allow children to be prepared for the new policies on February 5 when school returns.

“We set ourselves the toughest tasks of all the states and territories, achieving a 90 per cent vaccination rate of over 12s,” Mr McGowan said.

“It was designed to be the hardest to achieve because the modelling tells us easing border controls at 90 per cent saves 200 lives.

“After February 5, cases will begin to appear in the community — that is inevitable, but it will not be a cause for panic.

“WA is in the position it’s in today because all the way through the pandemic, Western Australians have done the right thing.”

Health Minister Roger Cook compared WA’s management of case numbers and zero deaths in recent months with Victoria and NSW, which he said had recorded more than 53,000 infections and 220 deaths since November 5.

“They are extremely sobering numbers,” he said.

Today I can announce that at 12:01am Saturday, 5 February, Western Australia will ease its hard border restrictions for vaccinated travellers.

This will be a major step forward for our State in how we manage the COVID-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/SVPvoWMYPw

— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) December 13, 2021

Interstate and international travellers will be able to visit the state from February 5 for those who are fully vaccinated, have proof of a negative PCR test from within 72 hours of departure and complete another test 48-hours after arrival.

Currently, only travellers from Tasmania are permitted to enter WA without needing to quarantine.

Queensland and the Northern Territory are listed as low risk jurisdictions, meaning people must provide proof that they fully vaccinated and need to complete a health screening on arrival and isolate for 14 days.

Victoria has been completely locked out, barring everyone from the state from entering because it's listed as an extreme risk.

Travel from the remaining jurisdictions is not permitted unless an exemption has been granted, and quarantine and testing requirements are in place.