CORONAVIRUS —
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS
910. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
Will
a QR code check-in system, COVID marshalling and other important social
distancing protocols be put in place ahead of the change to the border
arrangements this weekend; and, if not, why not?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
As many members and people in the
community would be aware, this weekend we shift from our hard border to our
controlled border regime. I stress that this is a gradual and deliberate next
step to make sure that we can continue to keep Western Australians safe, but
also bring the community and the economy back together. I stress that remote
Aboriginal communities will still be off limits. We will still require
international arrivals to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days and be tested on
day 2 and day 12. We will still require people from New South Wales and
Victoria to home quarantine and be tested on day 11. We are not opening our
borders this weekend; we are taking the next step as part of the journey that
the Western Australian community is on to make sure that we can keep on top of
COVID-19.
At the same time, we have been talking with industry about
further steps we can take to make sure that we maintain those measures in place
in the community to ensure that we have a good line of sight of whether this
disease is occurring. That is around wastewater testing and continuing to test
people who are symptomatic or as part of our DETECT Borders program. In
addition, as part of that process, we understand that the contact tracing
regime will be assisted by a robust system in which people will be able to
register themselves when they enter a venue or go to an event. That is not
related to the decisions that were made about this weekend; it is part of an
ongoing process to continue to review and refine all those measures that we
have in place to keep Western Australians safe.
It is an ongoing cycle of review and refinement. The QR codes
is another aspect of that. The Department of Health contact tracing team is
responsible for tracing potential contacts once a COVID-19 case has been
identified. To support the efficient contact tracing responses, a digital
register is being developed that utilises QR code scanning technology to
facilitate fast and accurate recording of contact details for patrons entering
venues. Obviously, this must be done in partnership with our friends in the
hospitality industry and others. I thank the Minister for Racing and Gaming; Tourism for his work in ensuring that
we continue to work in close contact with those in the industry—not
get ahead of them, but walk with them—to implement these systems.
The solution will provide the ability for members of the
public to electronically record contact details upon entry to a venue in Western Australia. The solution will
enable a primary contact from a business or organisation to register for
a QR location code. A member of the public will then be able to scan a QR code
to electronically provide their contact details upon entering a venue. Staff at
the Department of Health will be able to access this information for the
purposes of contact tracing if a positive case is identified. Furthermore, the
solution will be accessible through various mobile devices and provide a high
level of security and, most importantly, safeguards to protect the privacy of personal information, which is the reason we
must take these steps very carefully. We are in the process of finalising
the providers of the coding system and continuing to work with industry to
understand their needs. It is not part of this weekend's move to
controlled borders, but it is another measure the McGowan government is putting
in place to keep Western Australians safe.