Western Australia has more than 30,000 active cases of COVID-19 for the first time after setting a new record for daily infections, with the Premier predicting numbers will peak in "a few days".
In the 24 hours to 8pm last night, 7,151 new cases were reported, bringing the active infection count to 31,211.
Another person, a woman in her 80s, has also died from the virus.
Four people are in intensive care, among a total of 122 patients in hospital with COVID-19.
Premier Mark McGowan said the hospitalisation rate was "very stable, and by national and international standards a very low number".
More than 71 per cent of West Australians over the age of 16 have received a booster dose, something Mr McGowan said factored into the hospitalisation rate.
“We expect that we’re a few days away from our caseload peak,” he said.
"Our hospitalisation peak will come after that."
A total of 3,797 of today’s cases came from self-reported rapid antigen tests.
Of the 15,603 PCR swabs taken, 3,354 came back positive.
New COVID test to find 'hidden cases'
Researchers will be knocking on the doors of about 250 households throughout Perth this weekend in a pilot study to find undetected COVID-19 cases.
Random households will be asked to take a saliva-based test, called a LAMP test, which researchers say is more accurate at detecting COVID than rapid antigen tests.
Curtin University and Telethon Kids Institute researcher Nick Golding said the new test could help detect asymptomatic infections.
"We know that some people don't have symptoms, and some people don't have enough symptoms to go and take a [PCR] test," he said.
Mr Golding said while rapid antigen tests had their uses, they were not the most effective mass screening tool.
He said the LAMP test was a more efficient way of understanding the scale of hidden cases.
"You don't need to swab your nose or throat. Put some saliva on it and put it back in the tube," he said.
The LAMP test has not yet been approved as a diagnostic tool, so anyone who tests positive will still need to take a rapid antigen or PCR test.
Results from the research will be given to WA Health.
McGowan fronts media with Scott Morrison
Earlier today, Mr McGowan appeared alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison this morning, where they announced extra funding for two projects — a new campus for Edith Cowan University in the CBD, and a pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Swan River.
The money was to account for rising labour and material costs.
When Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese visited Perth earlier this month, immediately after the state's borders reopened, Mr McGowan notably did not make a public appearance with him.
The Premier said today's press conference was not about campaigning, but about securing WA money in the upcoming federal budget.
"The election has not been called. When the election is called, of course, I will be campaigning with Anthony Albanese," he said.
"But today I'm doing an important budget announcement which is real money in the bank for Western Australia."
The Premier said he did not have enough time to meet with Mr Albanese, in part because he flew out of the state to see his elderly parents in New South Wales before giving evidence in a defamation case brought by businessman Clive Palmer.
In the case, details of Mr McGowan's close relationship with media magnate Kerry Stokes, who owns The West Australian newspaper and Channel 7, were revealed.
The Premier declined to answer questions about that relationship, saying he would not comment on matters before the courts.
McGowan refuses to criticise PM
Mr McGowan and the Prime Minister have often been at odds over the state's border rules, particularly during the early stages of the pandemic.
Recently though, both have changed their tune, with the Prime Minister regularly saying he respects WA's approach to the pandemic.
When asked about Mr Morrison's previous comments, the Premier said he had made his views public before and would not engage in political attacks.
"You can ask me all those questions on other days, should you choose, and I'll answer all those questions on other days, but I've just done a press conference with the Prime Minister," he said.
"I'm not going to get into that sort of political tit-for-tat, and I don't think West Australians or Australians more generally would want me to do that."
That was despite Labor this week distributing pamphlets in WA urging voters not to forget the Commonwealth government's previous criticisms of the state.
And Federal Labor MP for Perth, Patrick Gorman, this morning tweeted about the extra money for the bridge project, saying it was "too little too late".
