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Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Western Australia records 48 local COVID cases, 14 linked to travel - WAtoday

A protest will be held out the front of Parliament house on Tuesday against the vaccination mandates.

Mr McGowan said he urged those attending to be respectful.

“We respect the right to protest, but I just urge people to be respectful and peaceful in what they do it,” he said.

WA’s hard border has also come under fire from epidemiologists over the past week, who have questioned the benefit of keeping the state closed given Omicron is already spreading in the community.

In response, Mr McGowan said compared to other states, WA had low case numbers and hospitalisation rates due to the stricter border controls.

“It’s obviously worked and it continues to work, and whilst it is working, we’ve also had around 25,000 people come in safely over the course of the last 22 weeks, from the eastern states, who are quarantining and being tested,” he said.

“Those 25,000 people have reunited with families and caught up with friends ... so that’s been a good outcome in a safe way.

“The border arrangement we have in place allows for family members to come in, subject to a week’s quarantine and secondly, it’s in place to protect the health and lives of West Australians.

“That’s what we’re trying to do whilst we get our third dose vaccination rate up.

“By the time we reopen the interstate and international borders we will be one of the highest vaccinated places in the world. It’s one of the safest populations in the world, which is a great thing.”

Mr McGowan said the border was constantly being reviewed and that there would be an announcement sometime this month.

“The reality is though we are getting the third dose vaccination rate up, the eastern states appear to be coming off their peak which is a good thing,” he said.

“We’re getting children vaccinated, and everything we’re doing on every single day is saving many West Australian lives, which I think is important.”

Uncertainty around the border reopening led Qantas to announce on Tuesday it would continue to run two direct flights to London per day via Darwin.

When international travel recommenced in November last year, but WA remained closed, Qantas temporarily re-routed its Perth to London service via Darwin.

The service was set to revert to operating through Perth again from April, but with the WA government yet to confirm a reopening date, Qantas will continue to operate through Darwin until at least June.

Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said the support of the Northern Territory government and Darwin Airport had made flying between Australia and London “a lot easier than it might have been otherwise”.

Tourism Minister Roger Cook said the state government would work closely with Qantas to bring the flights to WA as soon as possible.

“We just can’t provide the level of certainty that Qantas are looking for at the moment,” he said.

“We are continuing to talk with them and we are very much looking forward to having those flights resume in the next few months.”

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Western Australia records 48 local COVID cases, 14 linked to travel - WAtoday
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