watoday– It comes on top of four other locations visited by the men on their journey to Perth; a BP truckstop at Norseman, IOR Petroleum at Widgiemooltha, Mobil in Yellowdine, and Shell in Southern Cross.
The state recorded no new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
The men, aged 23 and 29, crossed the Eucla border into WA on Thursday before their surveillance tests from the day before came back positive on Friday morning. They had travelled from NSW via Victoria and South Australia.
Both men had been isolating together in their truck in WA, sleeping in the cabin overnight as part of existing protocols in place for truck drivers to minimise interactions with the public.
Authorities have identified 20 close and casual contacts of the drivers, who are now in isolation at the Westin Hotel in the Perth CBD.
Two are isolating in Kewdale and Kenwick, while the rest are in quarantine in regional WA.
Both drivers had received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and were wearing masks. They are currently displaying mild COVID symptoms.
During a press conference on Friday, WA Premier Mark McGowan said he was optimistic there would be no lockdown required for Perth or across the state.
“We have a testing regime that has identified these people, they have advised us they wore masks,” he said.
“We’re accessing the CCTV to check who they’ve met with, to confirm that what they’ve said is accurate, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure we’ve managed this situation in a safe way.”
On Saturday, Mr McGowan said both men had done the right thing and contacted relevant authorities as soon as they received a positive coronavirus test result.
Logistics workers are exempt from state border closures, however, they must adhere to strict protocols including surveillance testing and minimising interactions with the public.
Anyone who’s been at the identified exposure sites during the indicated times must quarantine for 14 days, get tested within 48 hours, and on day 12.
People experiencing any symptoms, even if mild, should get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.
with Hamish Hastie, David Prestipino and Heather McNeill
