ICYMI: Australia’s Perth goes into five-day lockdown after hotel quarantine security guard tests positive for COVID-19

That puts an end to Western Australia’s 10-month coronavirus-free streak

This comes as the security guard working at the hotel – which serves as a quarantine facility for inbound travelers – tested positive for COVID-19 with fears it could be a UK or South African variant. Western Australia premier, Mark McGowan, said that:

“Beginning at 6:00pm tonight the whole Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the South West region will be going into full lockdown. This lockdown will last until 6:00pm on Friday.When the man was working at this hotel there were four active cases of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine. Of those four cases we have at least three confirmed variant strains, two UK and one South African. We are told the guard was working on the same floor as a positive UK variant case.”

Masks are also to be made mandatory with the only exceptions to stay-at-home requirement being for the reasons/activities below: