Western Australia has taken another big step in its path out of COVID, with a bevy of rule changes designed to reduce the impact of the pandemic on people's lives.
Happily for Sandgropers, they come just in time for Easter.
Here are the most important points from the Premier's latest COVID announcement.
What's happening with close contacts?
Basically, you'll now only be a close contact if someone you live with, or an intimate partner, tests positive.
It means a positive case will no longer send work colleagues or classmates into isolation – something that's sure to be a relief for parents already thinking about Term 2.
The rules for close contacts and positive cases, including the need to quarantine for seven days, remain unchanged.
A close contact is now defined as someone who:
- lives with, or
- stays overnight with, or
- has had more than four hours of cumulative contact with a positive case in a residential setting without wearing a mask.
A residential setting includes a residential care facility, boarding school, house or maritime vessel.
It brings WA in line with the national definition for close contacts.
What if I'm in isolation now?
If you were forced into isolation because you spent either 15 minutes face-to-face or two hours in the same room with a positive case, where masks were removed, you're free to leave now – but only if you don't have symptoms.
If you're in isolation as a close contact of a household member or intimate partner, you'll have to complete the rest of your seven-day period.
So my kids can't be a close contact at school?
That's right. A positive case in a classroom can no longer send the rest of the students into isolation.
It will also free schools from having to contact trace positive cases when classes return in Term 2.
What about capacity limits?
The 500-person cap for hospitality venues, nightclubs, convention centres and function centres has been removed, as the government promised.
On top of that, home and private outdoor gatherings will also have limits removed, meaning your Easter celebrations can be as big as you like.
And Safe WA?
After admitting earlier this month that contact tracing was all but a thing of the past, Mr McGowan says checking in will only be required in hospitals.
He said it was further evidence the government would only keep measures in place for as long as they were needed.
Is anything changing in hospitals?
Not really. The government expects more health staff will return to the workforce because of the close contact changes, but doesn't know how many.
As those staffing pressures ease, the government hopes to relax the current elective surgery rules, which have stopped category two and three surgeries at public hospitals and allowed only some to go ahead in the private system.
In disappointing news for some though, the current visitor rules will likely remain for a while.
"They're important for preserving the health of people in hospitals, aged care and disability homes," Mr McGowan explained.
But he did mention the government was seeing if the rules could be made more compassionate and sensitive in the future.
What isn't changing?
Plenty. The Premier has promised these will be reviewed, but for the time being, these measures are still in place:
- Mask mandate
- Proof of vaccination
- The two square metre rule
- Capacity limits at stadiums
- G2G passes to enter the state
International and domestic travellers arriving in WA will still be given free rapid antigen tests but won't be required to use them anymore.
When can we ditch the masks?
The Premier isn't giving much away so we'll have to wait a little bit longer to find out.
But he's consistently said they could remain for some time because of how successful they are at reducing the spread of the virus.
"The other restrictions, the mask wearing and the like, we'll consider those over coming weeks as to what can be done," Mr McGowan said yesterday.
"But that will require the vaccination rate to continue to go up, our hospitalisations to remain stable or decline, and our case numbers to continue to go down."
Will case numbers increase now?
There's no way of knowing, but the Premier said he was confident to make these changes because there hadn't been a spike after level two measures were eased last month.
He also pointed to hospitalisation and ICU rates, which are far lower than what had been expected at this point in time.
Mr McGowan said these steps were in line with the Chief Health Officer's advice.
"We had conversations about it over the last couple of days," he said.
"This is the right time to remove these restrictions."
