Western Australia could see a COVID-19 caseload of up to 25,000 new infections a day in the coming weeks, the state's Chief Health Officer says.
There were 15,565 new cases reported in Western Australia today, the third consecutive day there has been more than 15,000 new COVID-19 infections.
Three more deaths have been reported, with 279 West Australians currently in hospital with the virus, 12 of whom are in intensive care, an increase of four from yesterday.
Dr Andy Robertson told ABC Radio Perth the state could expect to see COVID-19 numbers rise in the coming week.
"We will continue to see rises over the next couple of weeks and we will probably get between [20,000] to 25,000 [cases] over the next couple of weeks," he said.
"We anticipate the numbers will then start to fall after that."
Despite this, Dr Robertson said the timing was right to ease majority of COVID-19 restrictions, which had occurred in April, just days before the state recorded more than 10,000 cases for the first time.
He said that lifting the mask mandate seemed appropriate, as data was proving the virus was spreading more in private gatherings.
"What we've seen is that, while all those measures had been very effective in suppressing the outbreak, we were starting to see spread largely being within family groups, within social groups."
Mask-wearing strongly encouraged
Dr Robertson said he encouraged people to continue wearing masks if they felt it was necessary.
"We'd strongly encourage people to consider wearing masks, but they are having a lot less impact than they have had in the past," he said.
While masks are no longer mandatory for most workers, the vaccine mandate is still in place, with 80.7 per cent of the eligible population having received their booster dose.
Dr Robertson said the mandate would be reviewed in the coming weeks.
"[For] some groups — like those dealing with [the] vulnerable — we may want to maintain the mandates, while there may be other groups where those mandate aren't as critical going forward," he said.
Public school brings back restrictions
The current COVID-19 outbreak is placing a strain on all sectors, with at least one public school in Perth's western suburbs bringing back restrictions in an effort to stem the number of staff out of the classroom with the virus.
The ABC understands parents with students at the school have been told by the principal that the lifting of government restrictions had significantly impacted the school's ability to function.
It is understood that the school currently has about half a dozen staff members off work due to COVID-19 and, while that is a figure the school was able to handle for the moment, any more would make it difficult to manage.
The restrictions the school was bringing back include cancelling assemblies and other large gatherings, no mixed classes, and limits on the number of students allowed for certain classes.
Parents have been told those restrictions would remain in place for the rest of the semester.
The Department of Education's director of schools, Bec Bope, said masks were no longer required but staff and students could continue wearing them if they wished.
"Parents and carers are allowed on education sites for outside school drop-off, face-to-face parent-teacher meetings, attending assemblies, volunteering outside of classrooms such as in the canteen and uniform shop, and visits to residential facilities," she said.
"Our expectation is that schools follow this health advice from the Chief Health Officer.
"If conditions do change, the Chief Health Officer will advise the department and we will notify schools of any adjustments that need to be made.
"I understand these are challenging times for our schools, but we ask that they contact the department should they require any support or advice."
