COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Western Australia (WA) confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 21 February 2020, and its first death on 1 March. On 15 March, premier Mark McGowan declared a state of emergency. On 24 March, Western Australia closed its borders to the rest of Australia, and on 1 April, the state implemented borders between regions in the state. By mid-April 2020, the state had eliminated community transmission of COVID-19, becoming one of the few places in the world to do so. There were only a handful of cases of community transmission in the state after mid-April, until late December 2021 when a tourist caused an outbreak that led to the cancelling of some New Year's Eve events, and the re-imposing of mask wearing rules in Perth and the Peel region.
| COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia | |
|---|---|
Traffic sign in Perth advising of regional travel bans, May 2020 | |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Western Australia |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
| Index case | Perth |
| Confirmed cases | 1,356,147 (as of 3 November 2023) |
| Active cases | 231 (as of 3 November 2023) |
| Hospitalised cases | 89 (as of 3 November 2023) |
| Critical cases | 1 (as of 3 November 2023) |
| Recovered | 1,354,675 (as of 3 November 2023) |
Deaths | 1,241 (as of 3 November 2023) |
| Fatality rate | 0.09% |
| Government website | |
| www | |
Western Australia's low case numbers were attributed to a swift introduction of restrictions by authorities, a strict state border policy, and its isolation. During May 2022, Western Australia experienced sharply rising cases amongst the highest per capita cases seen anywhere in the world throughout the pandemic.