CORONAVIRUS — RESTRICTIONS — EASING
188. Mr T.J. HEALY to the Premier:
I
refer to Western Australia's response to COVID-19 and our intention to
provide a soft landing through the Omicron wave, with lower than expected hospitalisations and ICU admissions. Can
the Premier update the house on the easing of public health and social
measures that were announced today and outline why this decision has been made?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
We
said when we put in place what we termed level 2 public health measures that we
would review them by the end of the
month, which is what we have done. Today we have announced the changes that
will commence on 31 March. From 12.01 am next Thursday, most of the
level 2 measures will be eased. This will mean we will have avoided a long and
sustained period of severe restrictions, unlike most of the eastern states,
over the course of the Omicron wave. From 31 March, next Thursday, the easing
of restrictions will mean that contact registration will be required only at
venues that require proof of vaccination; most density measures will be eased,
particularly around home gatherings and private outdoor gatherings; the two
square metre rule will apply to hospitality venues and nightclubs for the next
two weeks and it will continue to apply to remaining relevant venues including
fitness venues, entertainment venues, places
of worship, hairdressers and beauty services; the crowd cap will be raised to
500 people for nightclubs and hospitality venues; standing service can
resume; capacity limits will be increased to 75 per cent for major stadia; mask
wearing will no longer be required for outdoor events, but will remain in place
for indoor events; and proof-of-vaccination
requirements will continue. Hopefully, this gives certainty to hospitality
operators, restaurants, bars, pubs and the like and they can start
trading more normally again. I realise that a lot of them have done it tough
over recent weeks in particular. We have delivered support since December of
around $420 million to businesses. I would like to thank them for their
understanding and cooperation over that period. I know it has been tough for
many of them.
Sadly,
one person in Western Australia passed away from COVID yesterday. A further
six, what we term ''historic deaths'', were reported
yesterday as well. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families impacted
and affected. There are reasons for optimism in Western Australia. Obviously,
we are currently going through the Omicron wave, but we have very, very high
levels of vaccination, high levels of RAT distribution and very high levels of
mask wearing. Because of that our hospitalisation and ICU rates are tracking at
very low levels compared with what was predicted, which is terrific news for
our state.
Again,
that is very different from the experience elsewhere. That is because we got to
very high levels of vaccination before we opened the borders. That
decision basically means that we have avoided some of the worst of Omicron and
COVID that the other states have endured and experienced. We are now at a nearly
75 per cent third dose vaccination rate. I encourage those who have not had
their third vaccination or children between the ages of five and 11 who have
not been vaccinated to please take up the opportunity. The clinics are still
there. The opportunity is still there. It is all free. We must make sure that
we continue to get vaccinated and continue on the trajectory we are on for a soft
landing from COVID.