Coronavirus: Quick to lock down, Western Australia slow to ’fess up

West Australian officials took more than 11 hours to inform the commonwealth and states about the latest positive case.

Long queues meant lengthy delays at the Ainslie House COVID-19 testing clinic in Perth on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

West Australian officials took more than 11 hours to inform the commonwealth and other states that it had detected community COVID-19 transmission, a ­possible breach of pandemic ­protocols.

The Australian has confirmed that despite confirming a positive test result at 3am AEDT (midnight on Saturday, Perth time), WA health officials told an ­Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meeting on Sunday morning that the state had not recorded any community infections.

The length of time taken to disclose the transmission is a sign of further strain on WA’s public health system, with the failure to introduce safety protocols already in place in other jurisdictions allowing an infectious quarantine security guard to wander the streets of Perth for up to five days.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd was informed about the infection at 2.30pm AEDT (11.30am Perth time), hours after he had announced it had been “two weeks since we had a case of COVID-19 in our ­community”.

Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to comment publicly, said WA health authorities had also not informed the Nat­ional Incident Room, which published figures at midday AEDT showing no infections.

There was a strong expect­ation that the states would update commonwealth authorities by midday AEDT, and mention possible new community transmission events at health advisory ­meetings, they said. In a new row between the federal government and Premier Mark McGowan, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on Monday suggested the five-day lockdown after the hotel quarantine breach was a “political slogan” ahead of the March state election.

Mr McGowan said Mr Dutton had failed to take responsibility for international border and quarantine arrangements, “Therefore it has fallen to the states to perform the role Mr Dutton should be performing under the Constitution. He should not be criticising when we are doing the task he should be performing.”

The Canning Highway in Perth on Monday. Picture: Getty Images)

The sec­urity guard, who may have been infected as early as last Monday, has the more virulent British strain of the virus.

There were no new infections recorded from 3171 tests on Sunday, Mr McGowan said.

He announced another review of the state’s quarantine arrangements in light of the case, as well as a police investigation into how the security guard contracted the virus and why he travelled around Perth while symptomatic.

“WA police will allocate strong resources into this investigation,” he said. “They have the forensic expertise to do the work that is required. This will run in parallel with the review led by the former chief health officer … We will leave no stone unturned to ensure we find out exactly what happened to prevent it from happening again.”

After being notified on Sunday, several states including Victoria and Queensland closed their borders to WA, with WA travellers to NSW required to quarantine until Friday evening.

The infection — WA’s first in almost 10 months — has highlighted weaknesses in the state’s quarantine system, which implemented a daily test of hotel workers only on Friday, despite national cabinet agreeing to roll out saliva swabs on January 8.

Perth’s near-deserted Cottesloe Beach as temperatures hit 38C on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Those tests started in Victoria on December 7, in South Australia on January 8 and in Queensland on January 11, while they began in NSW security guards on December 14 and were expanded to hotel staff and healthcare officials in January.

Mr McGowan also said the state was considering a 40 per cent pay rise for security guards who commit to taking on no other work commitments.

The infected security guard had moonlighted as a rideshare driver, although WA authorities are confident he did not work any shifts while he was contagious.

WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson told The Australian on Monday that the AHPPC meeting, held at 10.30am AEDT (7.30am Perth time), was “an extraordinary meeting to discuss reinstatement of the New Zealand bubble”.

“WA Health was still collecting contract tracing information on the case and the probable cause, including the possibility of a variant case,” he said.

“Further detailed information was required to allow jurisdictions to make appropriate decisions, which was not available at 7.30am when the AHPPC meeting was held. AHPPC was provided with a full briefing at 4pm.”

A spokesman for Professor Kidd said he “was first notified of the positive case by WA authorities shortly after (his) press conference concluded”.

The Australian Medical Association on Monday night said health authorities would need to conduct more tests to determine whether the coronavirus had spread through the community.

COVID clinics closed in WA at 10pm on Sunday, leaving stranded and untested people who had queued for hours.

Police speak to a member of the public in Perth, Australia on Monday. Picture: Getty Images