Hundreds of people have been plunged into quarantine after a fly-in fly-out worker visited 11 locations while infectious for up to 16 days.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the worker tested positive to Covid after returning from the Fortescue Cloudbreak mine in the state's north-west on July 27.
He visited three pubs, two medical centres, a Coles, Baker's Delight, and five other locations while potentially infectious, sparking fears of another lockdown.
The worker returned a 'weak' positive test result and authorities are unsure when, or for how long, he was infectious in the community, but say it could be as long as 16 days.