Mark McGowan revealed on Thursday that the state had recorded 617 new cases overnight — the second highest daily tally during the pandemic so far.There were 610 local infections and seven related to travel, taking the total number of active cases to 2272.Seven people are in hospital but none are in intensive care.“It’s clear that cases are rising in the community. The mathematics are clear — we’re not far away from recording over 1000 new cases per day,” Mr McGowan told reporters.“This is to be expected. It’s not a cause for panic, but it’s a reminder to take Omicron seriously.“The road ahead is going to be bumpy for people and businesses right across WA — that’s undeniable and unfortunately unavoidable. “But what everyone should have confidence in is WA is as best prepared as possible, even in the face of the Omicron virus.”Meanwhile, WA’s largest Aboriginal community Bidyadanga, which has several hundred people, has been locked down after the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service confirmed 17 cases. Mr McGowan said more cases were expected to come from the community, which was located just south of Broome.“The community have self locked down, with WA Police enforcing road closures in and out of the community,” he said.“A rapid response team from the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service are going into Bidyadanga this morning to assist in managing the situation.” The community’s second dose vaccination rate was about 70 per cent, Mr McGowan said.“The situation is evolving, people in the Kimberley region should get tested and monitor their symptoms,” he said.Kimberley Public Health physician Pippa May said it was important anyone in the region experiencing symptoms got tested as soon as possible.“Covid has arrived in the Kimberley and case numbers are quickly increasing,” she said in a statement.“As a community, we need to do all that we can to protect our region and identifying cases of Covid and isolating them early will help stop the spread.”Dr May said contact tracing teams were working as quickly as possible to identify close contacts, while KAMS was supplying ill people with care packages that included oximeters.Overall, WA has reached a third dose vaccination rate of more than 60 per cent.Mr McGowan has also announced an almost $67m Covid-19 business assistance package for those adversely affected by increasing cases and the level one measures that have been implemented.There are eight tailored programs under the scheme. The package includes:$42m tenant rent relief scheme, providing grants of $3000 to eligible small business tenants;$10.7m landlord rent relief incentive;$1.5m tenant rental credit scheme providing a waiver or credit of $6000 for eligible small business tenants of government-owned buildings;$5m alfresco support program to reimburse small businesses in the hospitality sector with up to $5000 for costs associated with creating and expanding an alfresco area to meet health requirements;$3.5m waiver of liquor licencing fees;$1.8m nightclub assistance program payments of up to $50,000 for nightclubs impacted by capacity limits and social distancing;$1.3m performing arts, theatres and cinemas assistance program, providing up to $50,000 to provide cash flow assistance; and$1m small business financial counselling and advisory services funding to expand small business support services administered by the Department of Communities.
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