Another six COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at a Perth aged care facility as Western Australia recorded its highest number of local cases since the start of the pandemic.
Five residents and one staff member have tested positive to the virus at Juniper's Cygnet Residential Aged Care home in Bentley.
This is in addition to the resident and staff member who tested positive on Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the first Omicron outbreak in a WA aged care home.
"Obviously the news of additional cases is of concern for our residents, their families, staff and volunteers," Juniper chief executive Chris Hall said.
"I want to reassure everyone that we are continuing to work hard to protect and care for all residents and staff.
"With the support of the Commonwealth, we are increasing our workforce, including nurses and care staff, to provide general support to residents by enabling greater contact with their loved ones."
WA Health is continuing to provide support to Juniper with contact tracing, while the home remains closed to visitors.
"While this is a challenging time, I am confident we are well prepared for the situation we now find ourselves in," Mr Hall said.
"We have been planning for this for many months and we have taken note of lessons learned from our eastern states counterparts."
Record number of local cases
The latest news comes after Western Australia recorded its highest number of new local COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 37 infections reported.
Of those, 29 are linked to close contacts, while eight remain under investigation.
A further 102 new cases are recent arrivals from interstate and overseas, bringing the total number of new WA cases today to 139.
One person is in hospital on a ward.
Premier Mark McGowan moved to reassure West Australians over the record number of new cases.
"This is no cause for panic," Mr McGowan said.
Of the new cases, seven were reported from rapid antigen tests.
Vaccination of aged care residents 'concerning'
Mr McGowan said the situation at Juniper's Cygnet Residential Aged Care facility was concerning, particularly because vaccination rates in aged care residents were lower than in the broader population.
While the vaccination rollout in those facilities is managed by the Commonwealth, the Premier said he would raise those issues at National Cabinet.
"If they need our help, we're prepared to provide it, because we need to get more vaccinations into the people in aged care as soon as we can," he said.
Those calls were echoed by Carolyn Smith, aged care director at the United Workers Union.
"We're really disappointed with the federal government and their response – the rollout of the booster, the lack of provision of PPE from the national stockpile, the absolute lack of a surge workforce over east," Ms Smith said.
Ms Smith said that trying to limit case numbers in the state was the best way to protect people living in residential aged care.
"You could go into any facility in Western Australia and, on most days, they are missing some staff because it is so hard to get staff to work in aged care," she said.
"That gives us some real concerns about what's going to happen when Omicron hits and when we see staff off either sick with COVID or being furloughed."
New financial help for businesses
Mr McGowan also announced a $77 million "shot in the arm" support package for businesses affected by the decision to delay WA's planned reopening on February 5.
The government has allocated $6 million in grants for impacted international education businesses.
Up to $8 million has been set aside to help cover the cost of international students who have to quarantine later in the year, with $2 million also to be given to universities to provide support services for affected students.
A $20 million tourism support program will offer $10,000 to sole traders and $20,000 to employing businesses for expenses incurred in preparing for the reopening.
Businesses who had to refund deposits from cancelled bookings will also be eligible to receive $50,000 from a pool of $15 million.
The aviation sector's recovery fund will receive an extra $10 million, while $3 million will be shared among travel agents.
The state government's 'Getting the Show Back on the Road' support program for the events industry will also receive a $10 million boost to cover up to 75 per cent of ticket sales where an event was cancelled, either because of a government mandate or because the organisers chose to.
Event suppliers will also share in $3 million.
"While it's generous, I'm sure some will say it doesn't go far enough," Mr McGowan said.
But the Premier said difficult decisions which had limited case numbers in WA meant some industries would always be impacted.
He said more support would be offered to WA businesses as case numbers continue to climb.
The opposition's small business spokesperson, Steve Thomas, criticised the funding for being a "token effort".
"I would've thought the government could be far more generous, but these packages should have also been in place ages ago," he said.
Dr Thomas agreed with the Premier that some businesses had benefited from the state's border remaining closed but said there was little recognition for those who were struggling.
"I thought it was completely dismissive of the Premier, though, to dismiss entire parts of sectors of industries, to glibly say that the tourism sector has done well," he said.
"There are plenty of tourism industries that are on their knees right now."
Change to exposure sites listing
The number of exposure sites being listed by the government has been decreasing over time, with none posted on Wednesday.
However, Mr McGowan insisted, that did not mean exposure sites were becoming irrelevant.
"But, obviously, you reduce the number of exposure sites because we've changed the close contact rules," he said.
A notice posted to the website by WA Health explained the change in approach.
"High-risk exposure locations related to close contacts – where we cannot identify all contacts at the location – will continue to be listed," it reads.
"Low-risk exposure sites may be listed in circumstances determined by public health."
The website still encourages anyone with symptoms to get tested.
More cases detected in schools
The announcements came after two more Perth schools, Kelmscott Senior High School and East Victoria Park Primary, each reported a case of COVID-19.
The primary school student attended their class, ECE 1, during their infectious period from February 7 to February 9.
In a note to parents, the school said it was working closely with WA Health to identify and contact staff and families of the children who were in close contact with the case.
"If your child was in the pre-primary class ECE 1 at the same time as the case, your child will need to get tested and isolate as required by WA Health," it said.
The school remains open for the other students.
Education Department director-general Lisa Rodgers confirmed the infection at Kelmscott High in a statement to ABC Radio Perth.
"Kelmscott Senior High School contacted families and staff yesterday afternoon to notify them of a confirmed COVID-19 case in a classroom at the school," she said.
“The school remains open. A small group of people will be required to isolate under the current high caseload environment protocols.”
