Western Australia has recorded seven new local cases of COVID-19 including four mystery infections, a day after the state government announced its border reopening would be delayed indefinitely.
Three of the new cases are known contacts of previously reported infections and were potentially infectious in the community.
The other four new cases, three of which live in the same household, have not been linked to any previous cases, with the source of the infections currently under investigation.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said there was also concern about a previously reported mystery case from earlier this week, after genomic sequencing failed to link it to the current Cockburn cluster of Omicron cases.
He said it meant health authorities were potentially managing multiple different clusters, with ongoing investigations underway.
The state recorded a further three new travel-related cases, taking the total new COVID-19 cases for the day to 10.
COVID risk spreads to South-West
A dozen new exposure sites in the state's south-west were added on Friday afternoon, with five of them classed as high risk.
Anyone who visited The Margaret River Chocolate Company, Cape Lavender Teahouse or the Bootleg, Grove and Wild Hop breweries must get tested immediately and isolate until receiving a negative result.
The Wild Hop brewery has told its Facebook followers it will close for the next two days due to a person who tested positive for COVID-19 visiting last weekend.
People who visited several other venues, including Dunsborough Bakery and Simmo's Ice Creamery, have been directed to monitor for symptoms.
With school holidays still in full swing, the state's premier tourist region is bustling with people.
The new sites in the south-west were in addition to a dozen new locations in Perth that were added earlier on Friday, but the list is expected to keeping growing.
The sites include shops, petrols stations, chemists, Ikea, an optometrist and the Forrest Chase night markets.
The Health Department has ordered people who visited most sites to monitor themselves and get tested if symptoms develop.
But people who visited several sites, including a karaoke bar in Northbridge and a gym in Booragoon, should get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days from the date of exposure.
Authorities are urging West Australians to continue checking the website as new locations and times are added.
Outdoor mask mandate for Australia Day
In addition to the new cases being announced, Mr McGowan said the mask mandate across Perth, Peel and the South West, which currently covers indoor public spaces, would extend to outside events for Australia Day.
"In light of the current outbreak we're dealing with, we have received new health advice to help prevent transmission of Omicron at particular events," he said.
"Australia Day is only four days away, we want all events to be able to proceed safely.
"So therefore, for all public events on Australia Day, mask wearing will be required for both indoors and outdoors."
Premier unsure when WA will be ready to open
When pressed by journalists for a revised timeline on WA's border opening after it was indefinitely shelved on Thursday night, Mr McGowan said he did not know when WA would be ready to reconnect with the world.
But he indicated it would hinge on when the eastern states were able to bring Omicron under control, as well as the third dose vaccination rate in WA.
"We don't know yet, so that is why we are having a review of what is going on over east," he said.
"We don't know when it is going to peak over there.
"The thing about opening the borders when it is peaking over there is you will see more cases over here, so what we have to do is get our third dose rate up."
It is expected 75 per cent of the eligible population will have received their booster shot by March 2, up from 35 per cent by February 5.
The reopening delay has drawn a mixed response among the community, many people expressing relief at the possibility of avoiding the worst of Omicron's impact on display over east, while others have been left gutted with family reunions and travel plans now little more than a distant dream.
Mr McGowan said opening the border would not have been fair on people who were not yet eligible for the booster shot, which he said was critical in protecting people from the Omicron variant.
"There are 5,147 Australians in hospital with COVID and fortunately none of them are in WA," he said.
"When we made the announcement in December, I said, and I was very clear about this, that it would open on February 5 unless there was an emergency or catastrophe.
"Now what is going on in the eastern states is an emergency and it is a catastrophe."
Qantas boss slams border backflip
Qantas said it had more than 20,000 people booked to arrive in Perth in the week following February 5.
The airline's chief executive, Alan Joyce, said most of those flights would be cancelled.
"February 5 was supposedly locked in to give certainty," Mr Joyce said.
"Tens of thousands of people booked travel on that basis and we brought a lot of our people back to work on that basis.
"Removing that certainty with no new timeline for when the border will reopen is a real blow not just for travel but for Australia as a whole."
Mr Joyce said the airline would cancel thousands of extra Qantas and Jetstar flights put on to meet the expected demand up to the end of April 2022.
However, he said those flights could be reinstated upon receiving further clarity on when WA's border would open.
"The rest of the country is focused on getting through (the pandemic) but WA is still playing for time, despite people doing the right thing and getting vaccinated," Mr Joyce said.
"The question is what it will take for them to open. It's very hard, as a business, to deal with this level of uncertainty."
Limited flight connections would be kept between Perth and the rest of the country to support essential personnel and freight.
WA in the dark over border: Opposition
WA Opposition Leader Mia Davies said the Premier had "squandered the gift of time".
"There will be a lot of people that feel betrayed, there will also be a lot of people feeling relieved.
"That relief should probably then be followed by anger because we have had a lot of time to prepare, and I think it's an admission that the government has not used that time appropriately."
Ms Davies said the lack of clarity with an indefinite date for reopening meant people were left in the dark.
"What we didn't hear was what the plan is now, and so we've been left in this state of flux where we have no new date, we've got no idea what businesses will need to do and the community will need to do, even though we've got Omicron in the community," she said.
