WA Health Minister Concedes As Omicron Cases Jump

The South Metropolitan Health Service is conducting a full review after a Covid-positive woman and her daughter were let into a waiting room at Fiona Stanley Hospital.  

Triaged incorrectly on Saturday, both spent a short time in the emergency department while contagious. 

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Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson confirmed the mother and child “did everything right”. 

“The hospital has strict procedures in place for suspected COVID-19 patients, but unfortunately these were not followed,” she said on Sunday. 

Labelling it a wakeup call the Health Minister called out the elephant in the room.   

“I think it’s clear that we are not going to eliminate Omicron,” she said. “It’s now about how we suppress and manage Omicron.” 

“With these additional cases it is vital that people get tested,”

“Yesterday we undertook 4743 tests across public and private clinics," she said, "but these testing numbers are not high enough." 

“There is Omicron in our community, this is serious and high levels of testing and quarantine is our best chance to help minimise the spread and to manage this outbreak”

- Minister Sanderson

It comes as Western Australia reported 24 new local cases on Sunday, up from seven on Saturday.   

Health authorities urge for anyone with symptoms, particularly in the Perth and Peel areas to get tested even if they have not visited a known exposure site. 

Sunday's detected new cases have all been linked to existing infections already in hotel quarantine or self-isolation.  

The full list can be found on the Healthy WA website.  

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