Crazy Covid panic: one escape shuts down Western Australia

Two million plunged into lockdown, Anzac Day services cancelled after an outbreak at a WA hotel identified as ‘high risk’ more than two weeks ago.

Two million people have been plunged into lockdown and Anzac Day dawn services cancelled after a COVID-19 outbreak at a West Australian hotel that was identified as “high risk” more than two weeks ago.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan announced on Friday afternoon that the Perth and Peel regions would go into lockdown for three days from midnight in response to the state’s first case of community transmission in more than a year.

The sudden step represents a fresh economic blow to Perth’s hospitality industry, and has thrown the Anzac Day long weekend plans for hundreds of thousands of people into turmoil.

The case has also raised fresh questions about the WA government’s handling of the crisis, just months after a similar quarantine hotel ventilation issue prompted a snap five-day lockdown.

The virus has spread from a COVID-positive couple in quarantine at Perth’s Mercure hotel to another couple as well as a returned traveller from China.

The traveller from China, however, tested negative before he completed his quarantine, only to turn positive after he was back on the street. He then spent five days in Perth, staying in short-term ­accommodation at the University of Western Australia and visiting restaurants, sights and a Chinese traditional medicine doctor before travelling on to Melbourne on April 21.

One woman, a friend of the man, has also since tested positive.

The Mercure hotel was found to be a “high risk” of spreading the virus through ventilation in a ­report that was provided to WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson on April 8. Dr Robertson recommended to the government that the Mercure no longer be used for quarantine purposes on April 14, three days before the man from China was allowed out on to the streets of Perth.

Mr McGowan defended the government’s handling of its quarantine hotels, and again called for the federal government to consider using remote defence and immigration facilities to quarantine returning Australians.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, this is an obligation the states have had put upon us. Facilities like Curtin airbase or Christmas Island or Garden Island or Yongah Hill, the commonwealth won’t use them,” he said. “The states are doing the best they can in light of the facilities we have that were not built for these purposes.”

He has also requested Scott Morrison to halve the number of international travellers arriving in WA for the next month.

Despite the snap lockdown, the government said crowds would be allowed to attend the Perth Wildcats basketball game and the Western Force rugby match on Friday night as long as they wore masks. Crowds have been barred from Saturday’s AFL match in Perth and planned Anzac Day services have been cancelled. Holidaymakers were also allowed to leave the Perth and Peel regions before midnight, but will be required to wear masks for the next three days.

Weddings and funerals will also be allowed to go ahead with a maximum of 100 people, all of whom must wear masks.

The lockdown will be a blow to hospitality businesses that were preparing for a bumper long weekend of trade.

Wes Lambert, the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, said the lockdown would cost the hospitality industry nearly $25m in sales “and lead to the rubbishing of $7m in produce and stock”.

Mr McGowan defended the apparent inconsistencies in the approach to the lockdown.

“There’s no perfect answer here,” he said. “We only learned of the second case in the course of the last hour or so and we’ve had to make a judgment call on what’s possible to be implemented. Logistically it was very difficult to put the rules in place by 6pm so we moved it to 12pm just to allow for the drafting of the rules and the implementation of the rules.”

The Mercure was one of three hotels identified as being at high risk of ventilation-related transmission of the virus in the review of the hotel quarantine system that followed January’s infection of a hotel security guard.

Both the Four Seasons and the Novotel were also considered high risk, and Mr McGowan said the government would review whether they should be used for quarantine in the future.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said a decision had been made to start only quarantining low-risk seasonal workers at the Mercure, and move other returning travellers from overseas in other more modern hotels.

“The Chief Health Officer out of an abundance of caution decided that we should utilise the Mercure hotel for the seasonal workers, given they represented a much lower risk profile and therefore were suited to the ­Mercure.”

The man travelled from Perth to Melbourne on April 21 on board QF778. All 257 passengers on board the flight have been deemed primary close contacts of the COVID-positive man, and are required to self-quarantine for 14 days and get tested.

It is also understood secondary contacts of flight passengers will be required to get COVID tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

Although the man returned directly home from the airport, terminal one will also be classed as a tier-two exposure site.

It means anyone who passed through the terminal between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday are required to get tested and isolate until they get a negative result.

The Health Department flagged further locations — including within the airport — could be identified as exposure sites “based on continued investigations”.

Four household and social contacts have been linked with the case, including the man’s wife, his two children and a friend of one child. They have all been tested.

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley said the man was “literally contacted the moment he got to the airport” in Melbourne about 6.30pm on Wednesday.

“On arrival at Melbourne airport he was immediately advised by the West Australian health authorities of his primary close contact,” Mr Foley said.

“He was picked up at the airport by his spouse and returned directly home to his residential location in the eastern suburbs where he lives with three household contacts. He was immediately tested (on Thursday) afternoon and returned the positive result this morning.”

The test result came back at 2am on Friday.