The Perth metropolitan area and the Peel and south-west regions of Australia are now under “complete blockade,” Prime Minister Mark McGowan said on Sunday, leaving residents only able to leave their homes for essential shopping, medical needs, exercise and jobs that it cannot be done at home or remotely.
Schools, most businesses, entertainment venues and places of worship are all closed, and restaurants are restricted to dining only.
“This is a very serious situation and each of us must do everything we can personally to help stop the spread in the community,” McGowan said.
The Perth metropolitan area and the Peel and Southwest regions have a combined population of over 2 million people, the vast majority living in the state capital Perth.
The drastic measures come after a twenty-year-old man who worked as a security guard at Sheraton Four Points, a hotel quarantine unit, tested positive for coronavirus. Of the four cases active at the hotel while the man was on duty, two were carriers of a strain from the United Kingdom and one from a South African strain of the virus, which is thought to be more contagious than other variants.
“We are told that the guard was working on the same floor, as a positive case in the UK version,” McGowan said. As the man worked two 12-hour shifts on January 26 and 27, he may have contracted the strain from the UK, the prime minister added, although he said that “exactly how the infection was acquired remains under investigation”.
Officials call on all people who have visited a specified list of places on a specific date to be tested. All close contacts of the man must be quarantined for 14 days.
“Western Australians have done so well for so long, but this week it is absolutely crucial to stay home, maintain physical distance and personal hygiene, and be tested for symptoms,” McGowan said.
Australia recorded a total of 28,811 cases, with 909 deaths, most of which occurred in the south-eastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. The country has shown success in controlling coronavirus through strict blockades and tight border controls, all international visitors are required to be tested and quarantined.
But while broader measures have been effective, state officials have been criticized for a “hard blockade” that has been imposed on nine public housing towers in Melbourne. About 3,000 tower dwellers did not receive a prior warning of the blockade, which prevented them from leaving their homes for any reason for more than five days.
Jessie Yeung and James Griffiths of CNN contributed to the reporting.