Western Australia’s State of Emergency and the Public Health State of Emergency will come to an end 12:01am Friday, 4 November 2022, marking a major milestone in the State’s successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public health advice like mask-wearing, testing and isolating if feeling unwell, and avoiding high-risk settings until symptoms have cleared are highly recommended and can be adopted as a requirement through businesses’ own policies and work health and safety arrangements.
With COVID-19 still in the community, Western Australian’s are still encouraged to test and isolate if feeling unwell with COVID-like symptoms, stay up to date with vaccinations, continue to wash or sanitise your hands and wear a mask as required.
The WA free RAT program provides a quick and effective form of testing for COVID-19, with free RATs available at drive-through collection points, vaccination clinics, offices of Members of Parliament, and regional testing clinics. More information on the WA Free RAT Program can be found on the WA Free RAT program page.
As part of the transition away from the State of Emergency, a ‘Temporary COVID-19 Declaration’ can be made by the State Emergency Coordinator should the virus escalate and require additional public health and social measures to be implemented to protect the community.
Under the framework, the Temporary COVID Declaration can be used to implement measures such as mask wearing on public transport and in other settings, isolation requirements for individuals, enhanced cruise-ship protocols and prohibitions to remote Aboriginal communities.