Western Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan has closed nightclubs until May 8, banning people from attending the Sunday football derby which draws 45,000 spectators.
West Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan announced on Sunday that there would not be a second instant lockdown in the city of Perth, but some movement measures will still be imposed after earlier reports that a guard of hotel quarantine security and two of his roommates have tested positive for COVID-19.
McGowan said no new cases were detected in Australia’s fourth largest city overnight, so he would not put it in another lockdown in two weeks.
Still, the Prime Minister has said Perth will not allow spectators at the Western Australia football derby on Sunday afternoon, which is expected to draw up to 45,000 people.
He said allowing spectators to enter Optus Stadium would put too much pressure on Perth’s contact tracers. Authorities had said earlier that they would allow 75% capacity at the 60,000-seat sports venue.
“I understand that people will be disappointed. Some people will be frustrated, but the decision was made on the health advice, and we tried to communicate that as quickly as possible, ”he said.
“The game will continue. And of course, people can watch it from home. “
There are reports that nightclubs will also be closed immediately until midnight on May 8.
“Our restrictions in place, and the use of masks, and the capacity of our contact tracers and our tests give us the ability to hold a lockdown decision,” McGowan told reporters on Saturday.
Australia, which has no other community transmissions of the coronavirus, this weekend banned citizens who were in India within 14 days of returning home, as the world’s second most populous country does in the face of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The country has all but eradicated community infections after closing its borders to non-citizens in March 2020, recording just 29,800 cases and 910 deaths.
The infected 20-year-old security guard worked at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth and had already received his first COVID-19 vaccine, McGowan said earlier. He was now in quarantine alongside his seven roommates, five of whom had so far tested negative.
New Zealand late Saturday night halted travel from Western Australia, canceling two flights scheduled to arrive Sunday morning. The Pacific nation last month agreed to a no-quarantine and COVID-free “travel bubble” with Australia.
