Lockdown in Western Australia: A single Covid case leads to lockdown in the Perth metropolitan area and Peel and South West regions

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The Perth metropolitan area and the Australian state’s Peel and South West regions are now ‘completely closed off,’ Prime Minister Mark McGowan announced on Sunday, leaving residents only for essential groceries, medical needs, exercise and for jobs that can. not be done at home or remotely.

Schools, most businesses, entertainment venues, and places of worship are all closed, and restaurants are only allowed to take out.

“This is a very serious situation and each of us must make every personal effort to help stop the spread in the community,” said McGowan.

The Perth metropolitan area and the regions of Peel and South West have a combined population of over 2 million people, the vast majority of which live in the capital, Perth.

The sweeping measures come after a man in his 20s who worked as a security guard at the Sheraton Four Points, a hotel quarantine facility, tested positive for the coronavirus. Of the four active cases at the hotel while the man was on shift, two carried the United Kingdom strain and one the South African strain of the virus, which is believed to be more contagious than other variants.

Members of the public attend the Rivervale ride through the Covid-19 Test Clinic on February 1, 2021 in Perth, Australia.

“We are told that the guard worked on the same floor, as a positive British variant,” said McGowan. Since the man had worked two 12-hour shifts on Jan. 26-27, it was possible he could have contracted the British strain, the prime minister added, although he said “exactly how the infection was contracted is still under investigation.”

Officials are calling all people who have visited a particular list of locations on a particular date to get tested. All close contacts of the man must be quarantined for 14 days.

“Western Australians have been doing so well for so long, but this week it’s absolutely critical that we stay at home, keep a physical distance and maintain personal hygiene, and get tested if you have symptoms,” McGowan said.

With a population of about 2.76 million, Western Australia has recorded 902 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began, although it currently has only 12 active cases, the state’s health department said. More than 800 of the state’s confirmed cases include international travelers and those arriving by cruise or other vessel, with fewer than 100 locally transmitted cases in total.

Australia has recorded a total of 28,811 cases, with 909 deaths, the majority of which occurred in the southeastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. The country has shown success in controlling the coronavirus through strict lockdowns and strict border controls, requiring all international visitors to undergo testing and quarantine.

Last year, the southern state of Victoria was shut down for nearly two months to contain an outbreak around the city of Melbourne.

But while the broader measures were effective, state officials were criticized for a “hard lockdown” enforced against nine public housing towers in Melbourne. About 3,000 residents of the towers were not warned in advance of the lockout, which allowed them to leave their homes for any reason for more than five days.

Last month, an official investigation into the restrictions found that they “violated human rights” and were not based on direct health advice.

CNN’s Jessie Yeung and James Griffiths contributed to the reporting.

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