Peter Dutton has accused Mark McGowan of imposing a harsh five-day lockdown in Western Australia to boost his chances of re-election.
The premier on Sunday imposed stay-at-home orders for 80 per cent of the state s population after a single hotel quarantine security guard caught coronavirus.
The Home Affairs Minister said Mr McGowan had over-reacted because he doesn t want to jeopardise his chances at the polls in March if more infections emerge.
Peter Dutton has accused Mark McGowan of imposing a lockdown in Western Australia to boost his chances of re-election. Pictured: Long lines for testing in Perth on Sunday
Perth was left deserted on Sunday after Mark McGowan locked the city down for five days
School holidays extended and some surgeries cancelled
Students in the regions will be given an extra week holiday, the premier said. For a majority of schools, school was due to start tomorrow. That has now been put on hold, and schools will be closed until next week, following the lockdown measures. It is in effect an extension of the school holidays. Elective surgery and procedures for categories two and three will be suspended from Tuesday, 2 February, and category one and urgent category two surgery will continue, he added.
Perth s CBD will once more be deserted after Premier Mark McGowan announced a five-day lockdown.(Sharon Smith)
An urgent alert has been issued for 15 venues in Perth after they were visited by a security guard working at a quarantine hotel who tested positive to Covid.
The city, along with the Peel region and Western Australia s South West, will enter a harsh five-day lockdown from 6pm on Sunday after the man in his 20s returned the positive result.
Residents who visited any of the 15 locations, including a Coles supermarket, a KFC and a 7-Eleven at specific dates and times have been told to get tested immediately and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
The venues are spread across the suburbs of Maylands, Midland, Morley, Cloverdale, Burswood, North Perth, Perth and Nedlands.
The man tested positive on Saturday night sparking a five-day lockdown for Western Australia s Perth, Peel and South West regions after the state had gone 10 months without a community case.