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Health

WA health authorities urge anyone with COVID symptoms to get tested and isolate, as state records seven new cases

The warning has been issued after WA recorded seven new local COVID cases. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)

Anyone in Perth, Peel or WA's South West with COVID symptoms has been urged to get tested immediately and isolate until receiving a negative result after the state recorded seven new local cases.

The message applies whether someone has visited an exposure site or not, health authorities say.

Five of the seven cases are known contacts of previously reported cases, one of whom was potentially infectious in the community.

The two other local cases are still being investigated. They have not currently been linked directly to any previous cases.

People do not need to have been to an exposure site to get tested. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)

These two cases are from different households.

All cases are in self-quarantine and will be monitored by health authorities.

It comes after WA recorded seven new local COVID-19 cases on Friday, including four mystery infections.

Those four cases, three of which live in the same household, had not been linked to any previous cases.

Multiple high-risk exposure sites in South West

The list of exposure sites is expected to grow this weekend.

A dozen new exposure sites in the 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.

Demand for vaccine rises

Authorities announced the demand for COVID vaccinations has increased.

Currently more than 89 per cent of West Australians aged 12 and over have received two shots.

More than 11,000 people turned out for a vaccination on Friday.

On Thursday, Premier Mark McGowan announced the state's hard border would remain in place indefinitely while authorities investigated the implications of the Omicron variant further.

The state was due to reopen on February 5.

Opposition Leader Mia Davies said the government needed to set a date for the border to reopen as it would provide a strong incentive for people to understand what they were working towards.

"We are calling on them to set a date so that everyone in Western Australia is now working towards a new safe transition plan," she said.

Mia Davies says West Australians need an opening date to work towards.

"It is unacceptable for the Premier to have announced the delay in the reopening and left the community in limbo without understanding exactly what we're all working towards."

Thousands rally in the heat

A few thousand people gathered in Perth's CBD for WA's "freedom rally" as the temperature reached a sweltering 40 degrees.

Despite Premier Mark McGowan's decision to indefinitely postpone the opening of the state's borders, the focus of many in the crowd appeared to remain on the state's vaccine mandates.

Some in the crowd flew flags of other nations, while others held banners criticising the vaccination policy.

A few thousand people gathered in Perth's CBD in the scorching heat for a freedom rally. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)

One person walking with a megaphone shouted, "Mark McGowan you can't hide, we've got justice on our side".

The crowd then walked to the city's Supreme Court Gardens, where they have been frequently gathering on weekends.

I've had COVID, can I get it again?
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