WA will ban regional travel amid COVID-19

PEOPLE already waiting at the West Australian border will be allowed into the state after the closure deadline, as the premier flagged banning regional travel and shutting down beaches.

Long queues at the South Australian border are “unprecedented” and WA Premier Mark McGowan has urged people to be patient, promising restrictions will not be imposed on anyone already at the border.

“If you are a tourist wanting to come to WA, it’s too late, please don’t come,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Exemptions to the 14-day isolation rule will only be made on compassionate grounds and for essential workers.

Mr McGowan said interstate travel must be avoided, adding restrictions on travelling between WA’s nine regions would be announced soon.

He also warned beaches would be closed if people did not practice social distancing.

“I don’t want to be doing this, but if we have to protect people from themselves on our beaches, then we will.”

Mr McGowan said the priority was protecting the elderly and indigenous communities.

“This is pretty extreme but this is the process we are now going through,” he said.

“Stop your holidays, stay home, just do your essential stuff.”

Mr McGowan also said another stimulus package was coming.

Optus Stadium has become a coronavirus emergency response centre for police.

Meanwhile, Australian Border Force and WA Police officers remain at Fremantle Port ensuring no one disembarks from MSC Magnifica while the cruise ship refuels and reprovisions before departing for Dubai at 6pm.

Some crew were spotted wearing masks.

The owners have denied any of the ship’s 1700 passengers are sick, but the state government says they have provided inconsistent information.

The news came as WA confirmed another 35 cases of COVID-19, bringing the total in the state to 175.

Six people have recovered and one man has died.

Workers on Inpex Australia’s Maersk Deliverer gas drilling rig off the Kimberley coast have been sent to the mainland for self-isolation as a precaution after one tested positive for coronavirus, falling ill on return to his home country last week.

A TransPerth bus driver, who had travelled overseas then returned to work, has also tested positive.

“If you’re sick don’t go to work … this is very regrettable,” Mr McGowan said.

Perth Zoo is closing for the first time in its 122-year history, but staff will remain on-site to care for the 1300 animals.

Australian Nursing Federation WA state secretary Mark Olsen has called for all elective surgery to stop, saying conserving personal protective equipment is critical.

Visits to hospital patients have been restricted to two people for two hours a day, but Mr Olsen told ABC radio all social visits should be stopped.

Public schools will remain open until the end of term on April 9, with the state providing tools to allow students to continue learning.

Some private schools have already closed and moved to online learning.

Mr McGowan says parents can keep their children home from school but they must not roam around.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt has reversed his decision to quit politics next year, saying he wants to help the state withstand the coronavirus crisis.