Mark McGowan has hit out at Gladys Berejiklian’s handling of the latest Covid-19 outbreak while boasting of his ‘far more hasty’ approach.
The Western Australia premier recently announced a single case in Perth, a woman who visited the Lyfe Cafe in Bondi last week who has inadvertently infected one other person.
The premier challenged his New South Wales counterpart’s handling of the most recent coronavirus outbreak when questioned on Monday.
Mr McGowan boasted that he would have acted quicker to lock down the state, with a history of bringing in snap lockdowns after just a few cases and cutting off his people from the rest of the country.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has hit out at Gladys Berejiklian’s handling of the latest Covid-19 outbreak while boasting of his ‘far more hasty’ approach
‘Our approach has always been far more hasty and designed to get rid of the virus before it gets a hold,’ he told 6PR radio.
‘NSW has a different approach, and people can judge for themselves which one works better.’
The premier doubled down on his criticism of Ms Berejiklian as he unleashed on her again just a few hours later.
Mr McGowan said he wouldn’t play the blame game with the NSW premier at the national cabinet meeting, but made several pointed remarks.
‘What we need to do is work together as a nation,’ he said.
‘It is a difficult situation every state faces, in particular NSW. Who knows what’s going to happen there?
‘Obviously, we act quicker than other states. This has been a debate going on now for 18 months.’
New South Wales is on day 12 of its latest outbreak, dubbed the Bondi cluster, with 130 locally acquired cases reported since June 16. Pictured: Sydneysiders queue outside a vaccine centre
Mr McGowan said he wouldn’t play the blame game with the NSW premier at the national cabinet meeting because the states needed to work together as a nation
The WA premier complained that commentators often back the idea that the ‘NSW model is better than all the states’ and said the debate needed to stop.
‘I think the evidence is now there that moving more quickly, acting with force, taking action as soon as you can is the right model.’
Of the four states impacted by the latest Covid outbreak, Western Australia has so far recorded the lowest number of new cases.
But Mr McGowan has concerns that the infected woman, who recorded a negative test upon returning home from Sydney on June 20, is carrying the Delta strain.
This is the strain which thrust Sydney and surrounding areas into a two-week lockdown on Saturday.
Mr McGowan responded with sweeping restrictions to Perth and the Peel region in an attempt to stop an outbreak.
Face masks will be mandatory for at least the next three days on public transport, all indoor settings and outdoors when physical distancing is not possible.
Mr McGowan has responded with sweeping restrictions to Perth and the Peel region in an attempt to stop an outbreak inadvertently brought into WA from a returned traveller
All public events that cannot be restricted to under 150 people must be cancelled, with weddings and funerals to proceed with no more than 150 attendees.
A 30-person limit has also been introduced for all private gatherings, while hospitality, retail and entertainment venues must now comply with the two square metre rule.
Meanwhile, Queensland and the Northern Territory are battling two separate clusters prompting both governments to impose tougher Covid measures including mask mandates and caps on gatherings.
The spread of the Delta variant across the country has seen new restrictions brought in for 11 local government areas of southeast Queensland, with Darwin to remain in lockdown until Friday.
NSW is on day 12 of its latest outbreak, dubbed the Bondi cluster, with 130 locally acquired cases reported since June 16.
The state recorded 18 new Covid cases on Monday, including one mystery infection and two more primary school children who tested positive on the second day of Greater Sydney’s lockdown.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said officials will need to wait ‘at least another five days’ to reap the benefits of lockdown in Sydney
All but one of Sydney’s Monday infections are linked to the Bondi cluster and the eighteenth case was ‘in the vicinity’ of other positive tests, which is believed to be a Westfield Bondi Junction exposure.
There are now hundreds of venues across Sydney and the rest of the state that have been added to the ever-expanding list since June 16 – when a limo driver ferrying international flight crew began patient zero of the highly contagious Delta strain.
Ms Berejiklian said about six of the state’s new cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period, while more were isolated for part of the same period.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said officials will need to wait ‘at least another five days’ to reap the benefits of lockdown.
‘It is important the community understands that the numbers are not expected to decline for another five days,’ she said.