Western Australia has imposed a five-day lockdown in metropolitan Perth, the Peel Region, and the state’s South West amid fears a hotel quarantine worker who has tested positive to Covid-19 has contracted the highly contagious UK variant.
The security guard, aged in his 20s, was working at Sheraton Four Points Hotel where four people in quarantine had active cases of the virus, including highly contagious strains that have been linked to Britain and South Africa, the health authorities said.
The man had a second job with an unspecified ride-sharing company but had not worked his driving job since reporting symptoms on Thursday. Other people in the man’s household had tested negative but were put in isolation; and were expected to test positive in the coming days, they said.
The state premier, Mark McGowan, said the “full lockdown” would begin at 6 pm on Sunday, meaning residents could only leave their homes for essential grocery shopping, medical reasons, to care for the vulnerable or exercise within their neighborhood.
“This is a very serious situation; each and every one of us has to do everything. we personally can stop the spread in the community,” McGowan said. “We have acted decisively and swiftly in these circumstances.”
“In effect, for a short period of time, we are going back to what we experienced in March and April of last year,” he added.
PERTH ON FULL LOCKDOWN
– Hotel security guard tests positive
– Western Australia’s first case in nearly 10 months
– May involve UK variant
– Full lockdown for at least 5 days
– Residents can only leave their home for essentials
– Masks are now mandatory— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) January 31, 2021
Lockdown
Schools were due to return on Monday but will now remain closed; masks will become mandatory during the lockdown’; and venues including bars, pubs, clubs, gyms, and places of worship will need to close. Restaurants and cafes will be limited to takeaway service. Elective surgery has also been suspended.
Australia has recorded nearly 29,000 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began. For a population of about 25 million, The numbers are far fewer than many other countries.
In recent months, in particular, the nation has taken swift and aggressive actions to contain outbreaks at their source.
It currently has a travel ban in place preventing residents from overseas travel.
State governments have even closed internal borders for the first time in a century, an effort to keep the virus out that has at times resulted in terse exchanges between state leaders over disagreements about people’s ability to move around the country.