WA Premier Mark McGowan's chief of staff has tested positive for COVID-19, as the state recorded more than 1,000 cases for the third consecutive day.
The Premier announced the news at a media conference this morning at Perth Airport.
He said his chief of staff returned a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) on Friday, and the infection was confirmed with a PCR test result that came back late on Saturday afternoon.
"Under the public health definition a number of staff, including myself, are taking the necessary precautions, closely monitoring for symptoms and taking a RAT when appropriate," Mr McGowan said.
"I have now taken two RATs, one last night another this morning, both were negative."
Mr McGowan said he last saw his chief of staff on Friday at the office.
"We were wearing masks, we didn't breach any of the close contact definitions, we followed the rules to the letter," he said.
Water Minister Dave Kelly has also tested positive and is isolating.
Case numbers not 'cause for panic': Premier
Mr McGowan says there were 1,027 new cases in WA to 8:00pm last night, with all but six aquired locally.
Of the positive cases, 324 were self-reported RATs and 703 were from PCR tests.
There were 6,757 PCR tests carried out at clinics on Saturday.
There are now 4,713 active COVID cases in the state, with 13 people in hospital. As of Sunday morning no-one was in ICU.
The Premier said while the scale of case numbers may be shocking to some West Australians, no-one should panic.
"Many may know someone who has caught the virus, many more may know someone who is isolating," he said.
"I want to stress, this is not a cause for panic, we predicted this was coming and we prepared for it."
Millions of free RATs for WA households
The Premier also announced free RATs were being made available to more than 1 million West Australian households.
Mr McGowan said an initial 5.3 million free RATs had been allocated to West Australians, with each household eligible for five tests.
People can register online to have the tests delivered to their home address, which could take up to 15 business days, with regional areas being prioritised initially.
Once registered, people will receive confirmation with a unique order number that is required if they choose to pick up the RATs from a designated collection point in the Perth metropolitan area.
Collection for registered orders will be open from Monday at the Perth airport collection point.
In a statement, Mr McGowan said the program was the first of its kind in the country.
"Western Australia's approach has meant we are in the strongest possible position to manage the wave of Omicron before us," he said.
"Making sure every WA household has access to free RATs is an important part of being prepared for COVID-19.
"Every Western Australian deserves to have access to a rapid test, no matter who they are and no matter where they live across WA."
It is mandatory for people who return a positive RAT to register their result online with the Department of Health.
Concession card holders in Australia are also eligible to pick up free RATs from pharmacies.
Additional RATs are also supplied to testing clinics to support the PCR system.
Mr McGowan flagged there may be more RATs made available to households beyond the initial five.
"We expect this will also be the first round of free distribution, we may well provide more free RATs to households around the state in coming weeks," he said.
Regional households are being prioritised as they had more restricted access to PCR testing compared to the city, Mr McGowan said.
Restrictions extended across WA
Level one public health measures will be extended to the entirety of the state from 6am on Monday.
Mr McGowan said the government was still monitoring the situation to see if restriction levels would be increased to level two.
"I think it's inevitable there will be some form of enhanced restrictions," he said.
But he noted while case numbers were growing, the number of people in hospital was relatively small, something he attributed to WA's high vaccination rate.
Meanwhile COVID was detected in wastewater at Wyalkatchem on Thursday, the WA Health Department said.
It also announced more exposure sites in regional WA including in Denmark, Albany, Busselton, Mount Barker and Yallingup.
Minister working from home after positive test
Earlier on Sunday, Water Minister Dave Kelly has confirmed he returned a positive COVID-19 test.
"This morning I received a positive COVID PCR result," Mr Kelly said on twitter.
"I will be working from home," he said.
"I feel very fortunate to be in a country where vaccines are freely available. Many are not.
"Thanks again to our health workers and public sector staff who are getting us through the pandemic."
