WA Health has introduced new rules for close contacts of Covid-19 cases linked to schools, which it says is based on public health advice.
Under the new rules, parents and carers are no longer required to automatically quarantine with a child who is identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case.
Chief health officer Andy Robertson said the rules had been introduced to minimise the impact on families when children were identified as close contacts, including enabling siblings who had not been identified as close contacts to continue to attend school.
Depending on the child’s needs, one parent or carer may still need to stay home to care for them while the child is quarantining.
Parents and carers of children who are close contacts need to take extra precautions and limit interaction with the close contact where possible and monitor themselves for symptoms.
If symptoms arise, they should get tested immediately.
The rest of the household, including siblings who have not been identified as close contacts, can attend work or school, and should also monitor themselves for symptoms.
Dr Robertson said there were steps that people in this situation could take to protect themselves and their family.
The family should:
- minimise physical contact with the close contact
- sleep separately from the close contact
- use a separate bathroom from the close contact if possible
- wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser
- cover coughs and sneezes
- regularly clean all surfaces (such as tabletops, doorknobs and bathroom fixtures) by using household disinfectant or diluted bleach solution
- wear a mask in shared areas or when caring for other members of their household.
“Families who have a child at home in quarantine because of being a close contact should minimise non-essential interaction with family members who are elderly, immunocompromised or have medical conditions such as heart, lung or kidney problems,” he said.
Meanwhile up to 8pm last night WA recorded 2270 new cases of Covid-19.
There are currently 12,260 active cases in Western Australia.
To 8pm last night, there were 26 people with Covid-19 in hospital, none of whom were in ICU.
There were 1986 new cases reported in the metropolitan area taking the total in the metropolitan area to 11,190.
There were 23 new cases recorded in the Wheatbelt taking that area’s total to 81.
Notes:
- This data is based on the residential postcode of each case. The case may have an isolation address in another region.
- The remainder of daily cases reported (461) are yet to have a region assigned. Data will continue to be reconfigured as this information is verified.
Of the 2270 cases, 1404 were confirmed via PCR test, the remaining 866 were self-reported positive rapid antigen tests.
A total of 7953 people received PCR tests at either state-run or private pathology clinics yesterday.
WA has recorded 21,176 cases since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Anyone experiencing symptoms should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.
