Western Australia has recorded three new cases of COVID-19 overnight, all of whom are international travellers currently in hotel quarantine.
There have been no cases of community-acquired coronavirus, marking 266 days in which WA has avoided community transmission.
On Thursday WA reinstated a hard border closure with Victoria, and required Victorians who arrived in the state since December 21 to isolate and get tested.
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Passengers from a flight are escorted to waiting buses to go to hotel quarantine at Perth Airport.(Getty)
The state s Health Minister Roger Cook said he understood how closing the border to Victorians created a difficult situation .
In comparison, the entire month of November saw about 36,964 deaths.
The grim death toll comes on the heels of several brutal months for the US, with COVID-19 ravaging communities from coast to coast, crippling hospital systems and prompting new widespread restrictions.
The authorisation of two COVID-19 vaccines earlier in December offered some hope of a light at the end of the tunnel.
But experts continue to warn that while the end is in sight, the pandemic is not over and another surge stemming from the Christmas holiday could be on its way. We very well might see a post-seasonal - in the sense of Christmas, New Years - surge, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN s