More ‘high risk’ exposure sites have been listed as Western Australia‘s health authorities remain on high alert for further local cases of COVID-19.
A childcare centre and seven busy restaurants have been added to the list of venues visited by an infected case, amid fears Perth’s snap three day lockdown will be extended.
Landsdale Early Learning and Enrichment Childcare in Perth’s north appears on three occasions on the updated list released by WA Health on Sunday.
The times of concern are April 20 from 4.45pm to 5.15pm, April 21 from 4.45pm to 5.15pm and April 22 from 4.30pm to 5pm.
All affected families have been contacted.
Thai Thyme at Lakeside Joondalup has been re-categorised as ‘high risk’ after an infected diner had dinner there between 6.45pm and 8pm on Thursday.
It means anyone at the restaurant at the time must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
There are fears Perth’s snap lockdown could be extended beyond Monday as the list of potential exposure sites is extended. Pictured are Perth residents grabbing a takeaway coffee on day two of lockdown on Sunday
Mark McGowan (pictured on Friday) has lashed the Federal Government for not providing better quarantine facilities, saying CBD hotels were not suitable
The update comes after a second locally-acquired case linked to the Perth Mercure Hotel outbreak was announced on Saturday afternoon – a man in his 40s who dined at the same restaurant as two confirmed cases.
The two cases were a 54-year-old Victorian man who appears to have contracted the virus from a fellow returned traveller while in hotel quarantine at the Mercure, and his female friend from Kardinya, whom he was visiting.
The Kitchen Inn, in Kardinya, as well as five other eateries in East Victoria Park, Morley and Northbridge, are deemed high-risk sites and anyone who dined there during exposure times must quarantine for two weeks.
Another 20 exposure sites are not considered as risky but those who attended them must self-isolate until they receive a negative test result.
The Victorian man’s infection was not identified until about a week after he left hotel quarantine and travelled to Melbourne.
Upon landing in Melbourne on April 21 he was told by WA authorities to get tested and isolate because of a pregnant woman and her child at the hotel who had tested positive.
Another 20 exposure sites are not considered as risky but those who attended them must self-isolate until they receive a negative test result (pictured, locals in Perth on Friday as the lockdown began)
Genomic testing has confirmed the virus initially spread in the corridors of the Mercure Hotel from a couple who had returned from India.
The Victorian man had been staying in a room adjacent to the couple from India.
Documents released by the government this week identified the Mercure as one of three hotels considered ‘high risk’ for ventilation issues.
WA’s chief health officer received the report on April 8 and wrote to the premier last Friday advising that the Mercure should stop being used.
The mother, who is six months pregnant, and her daughter at the Mercure returned positive tests that day.
Coles supermarket and Kmart at Galleria have also been identified at Covid hot spots in Perth (stock image)
The Mercure will soon no longer accommodate returned travellers and the government will review the continued use of the other high-risk hotels.
Premier Mark McGowan on Saturday thanked Perth and Peel residents for their cooperation with the lockdown.
He and Health Minister Roger Cook implored people to get tested if they had been at an exposure site (listed on the WA health website) or if feeling unwell.
Mr McGowan said he hoped the lockdown would end as planned at midnight on Monday.
He criticised the Commonwealth for not providing better quarantine facilities, saying CBD hotels were not suitable.
Kung Fu Kitchen in Morley, in Perth’s northern suburbs (pictured) has been officially named as a Covid hotspot in Perth, taking the state’s total to six
The federal government swiftly rebutted his comments saying alternative defence or immigration detention facilities were not as safe and did not have good enough hospital access.
Mr McGowan also criticised the government for allowing too much travel to and from India in recent weeks, given the country is experiencing a raging second virus wave.
The government responded that it had taken action to stop the flow of travel in and out of high-risk countries.
Domestic travellers from Perth and Peel to other parts of Australia since April 17 are subject to isolation directives and Queensland has closed its border to those travellers.
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