Covid-19 Resources and Updates

Looking after each other

People are wandering out yonder and exploring the natural beauty of our great state. While we're enjoying WA's natural beauty, visiting attractions and meeting new people, it's important that we look after each other.

There are more than 200 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia, across the Midwest, Gascoyne, Pilbara, Goldfields and Kimberley regions.

The residents of these communities are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other Western Australians.

To help keep remote Aboriginal communities safe from COVID-19, there are strict travel restrictions in place. Tourists and travellers are not allowed to enter.

Some remote Aboriginal communities have applied for exclusions from the travel restrictions and they, or their amenities, are open to visitors.

Planning your trip well in advance will help you navigate remote areas and avoid entering restricted areas.

The COVID hotline — 13 COVID (13 26843) — is available to answer COVID-19 related questions.

Travel restrictions

Under the WA Government’s Remote Aboriginal Communities Directions, the only people who can enter a remote Aboriginal community are residents of those communities and those who are:

• providing essential services and supplies
• going to work or school there
• entering for family or cultural reasons
• delivering a community program or activity
• entering in an emergency.

These people cannot enter a community if they have COVID-19 or symptoms of COVID-19, or if they are waiting for a test result or have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19.

Travellers can drive through a remote Aboriginal community only if they do not stop or come into contact with any person in the community.

Police have the power to enforce the travel restrictions, and fines of up to $50,000 can be issued.

For more information read the Restrictions on travel to remote Aboriginal communities – frequently asked questions.

Planning your trip

It is important to plan your trip before you leave home so that you know which remote Aboriginal communities are open, and to ensure you have enough food, water and fuel to avoid stopping in Aboriginal communities that are closed to visitors.

Aboriginal communities that are open to visitors may have their own requirements for people entering. You should always contact a community before going there to find out what travel restrictions or entry requirements are in place.

Contact visitor centres in each region for the latest travel information.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that has not been previously identified in humans.

The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

The first case reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) was on 31 December 2019. It has since spread across the world, with WHO declaring the disease a pandemic on 11 March 2020.

It is very important that the community access resources from trusted sources only. Below is a list of trusted resources specifically related to Coronavirus (COVID-19):

WA State Government Hotline 13 COVID (13 26 843)

Coronavirus Health Information Line 1800 020 080

Health Direct 1800 022 222

COVID Test Result Hotline 1800 313 223

Smart Traveller website www.smarttraveller.gov.au

WA Government Department Health website www.healthywa.wa.gov.au

Australian Government Department Health website www.health.gov.au

What to do if you are a confirmed positive case:

• Isolate at home for 7 days,
• If you have no symptoms after 7 days, then no further test is required, and you can stop isolating
• If you have symptoms on day 7, remain in isolation until those symptoms clear or get clearance from a medical professional before leaving isolation

Important: If you return a positive Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), you must register your result (external link) with the Department of Health.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you will receive an SMS from WA Health. There is a link in the SMS that will take you to a web page with more information and a number of questions.

The questions will ask if you have visited any high-risk locations or need COVID-19 Care at home. These questions will help WA Health to continue to protect people at high risk of getting sick from COVID-19.

You do not need a negative COVID-19 result to leave isolation and go back to work if you have completed 7 days of isolation since testing positive, and no longer have symptoms.

• A person may still test positive after the 7 days because they can shed the virus. They are not contagious.

What is a close contact?

A close contact is defined as:

• a household member or intimate partner of a person with COVID-19 who has had contact with them during their infectious period,
• someone who has had close personal interaction with a person with COVID-19 during their infectious period, where they spent 4 hours of cumulative contact with them in a residential setting (including a home, residential care facility, boarding school, maritime vessel, or other accommodation facility) in any 24-hour period where masks have been removed by both people during the period of contact
• someone who is informed by WA Health that they are a close contact.

I am a close contact with symptoms

This protocol will help you if you are a symptomatic close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

What to do if you are a close contact:

• Take a PCR test or RAT within 24 hours of becoming a close contact
  • If positive – follow positive case guidelines
  • If negative, continue to isolate until symptoms resolve and get tested as per existing protocol
• If you took a RAT, take another RAT in 24 hours
• Take a PCR test on day 6 or RAT on day 7:
  • If positive – continue to follow positive case guidelines
• If negative, you can leave isolation after day 7. Once you leave isolation, for the next 7 days avoid visiting healthcare, aged, residential care facilities (including disability care facilities and mental health residential facilities) or correctional facilities, unless authorised by the Chief Health Officer or in an emergency. In this case, you must advise a relevant officer prior to attending or as soon as possible upon your arrival. Workers at those facilities can enter under strict conditions.
• Once symptoms have resolved, close contacts who are not cases should follow the protocols for ‘I am a close contacts with no symptoms’ (see below) for the balance of the 7-day isolation period.
• If a close contact tests positive, they must isolate for 7 days after their positive test result and follow the requirements for positive COVID-19 cases.

I am a close contact and have no symptoms

This protocol will help you know what to do if you are a close contact but have no symptoms. You should follow this protocol for 7 days from the date your household contact tests positive to COVID-19.

Close contacts who do not have symptoms can leave their place of isolation if they:

• Take a RAT and obtain a negative result on each day they would like to leave isolation (note: you must be able to provide evidence of the negative RAT result taken than day if requested by a relevant officer)
  • If positive – follow positive case guidelines
  • If symptoms develop, follow symptomatic close contact guidelines
• Wear a mask at all times outside of the home (the usual exemptions apply, including for children under 12)
• Avoid high-risk settings, including hospitals, healthcare settings, aged care facilities, residential care facilities (including disability care facilities and mental health residential facilities) and correctional facilities, unless you work at these locations. In case you visit high-risk settings due to an emergency, you must advise a relevant officer prior to attending or as soon as possible upon your arrival. Workers at those facilities can enter under strict conditions.

Close contacts who do not have symptoms are strongly encouraged to:

• avoid non-essential gatherings and contact with people at risk of severe illness
• work from home, where possible
• notify their employer, educational facility or early learning centre of their close contact status.

Note: Relevant workers entering high risk settings are subject to additional obligations:

Close contacts with no symptoms who work in a high-risk setting must also:

• advise their employer they are a close contact
• seek confirmation from their employer to attend work
• monitor for symptoms
• immediately leave the workplace and return home if they develop symptoms or become COVID positive
• only enter or remain at the high-risk setting for the purposes of their work duties
• wear a surgical mask while at work along with any PPE requirements from their employer
• not share break areas at work with any other person
• maintain physical distancing.

WA's Response

Western Australia is working closely with the Commonwealth, State and Territory jurisdictional governments to respond to the outbreak of a novel Coronavirus that has recently been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

Click here to access the Western Australian Government Pandemic Plan