Lockdown in Perth after quarantine guard tests positive

SYDNEY • The Australian city of Perth was ordered into lockdown yesterday after a security guard working in hotel quarantine tested positive for Covid-19, ending the country's longest coronavirus-free run.

From yesterday evening until Friday this week, people in the city of two million must stay home, except for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping or exercise, with visits to hospitals and nursing homes banned, said Western Australia state premier Mark McGowan.

Australia's fourth-most populous city had recorded no cases of the virus for 10 months, and Australia just hours earlier had announced 14 days without a locally acquired infection.

Restaurants, cafes and cinemas in Perth and surrounding areas were ordered shut, while a scheduled return from summer school holidays was extended by a week, after the security guard returned a positive test late on Saturday, Mr McGowan said.

The vast, largely isolated state has been known in Australia for a hardline Covid-19 response that included keeping its border closed to the rest of the country until recently when it reopened to some regions.

"I know for many Western Australians this is going to come as a shock," Mr McGowan told a hastily scheduled news conference. "We cannot forget how quickly this virus can spread, nor the devastation it can cause."

The security guard, in his 20s, was working at a hotel where four people in quarantine had active cases of the virus, including with highly contagious strains that have been linked to Britain and South Africa, the health authorities said.

The man had a second job with an unspecified ride-sharing company but had not been on his driving job since reporting symptoms on Thursday. Other people in the man's household had tested negative but were put in isolation and were expected to test positive in the coming days, they said.

The lockdown affected four-fifths of the population of Australia's geographically biggest state, and the rest were asked not to travel. People from other states, only some of whom were recently allowed back into the state, were again asked to stay away.

Earlier yesterday, Australia reopened its "travel bubble" with New Zealand, meaning travellers from New Zealand are exempt from 14-day hotel quarantine, after the neighbouring country reported no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases. New Zealand has, however, kept its border closed to Australia.

REUTERS