Confirmed COVID case in Greater Bunbury marks first community spread in regional WA

After two years of keeping the pandemic at bay, the South West has recorded one new COVID-19 case — marking the first case of community spread in regional WA. Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson confirmed on Monday one person from the Greater Bunbury region tested positive to the virus and was infectious in the community, while health officials and contact tracers were continuing to investigate. It comes as a leading Bunbury doctor said the region’s health system “would not cope” with an outbreak of Omicron in the South West. The South West case was one of 13 new local cases recorded in WA yesterday. Ten of these were linked to the Coolbellup cluster, including eight household contacts and two close contacts. One case is a household contact from the Safety Bay cluster, and one other case attended Willagee IGA, which was listed as an exposure site. All cases are in self-quarantine now and will continue to be monitored by health officials. Brecken Health Group founder and director, Dr Brenda Murrison, warned critical staff shortages in regional hospitals and medical centres meant WA is not ready for widespread community transmission. Dr Murrison said while she felt an initial sense of relief on hearing the border reopening would be delayed, she would only support a delay of a few weeks. “It was a relief mainly because I know the hospitals are not ready,” she said. Dr Murrison said medical staff tend to move between States around this time of year, creating short-term staff shortages which were currently “affecting a lot of regional hospitals and medical centres”. “I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, our ambulance ramping was at record levels last year and we’ve had problems getting any staff into the country in the past two years,” Dr Murrison said. “So our staff are tired, they’re exhausted and we only have limited resources. “But if we can’t recruit and we can’t get people in, how are we meant to do our jobs.” Bunbury experienced its most recent COVID scare on December 29, when the Bunbury Passenger Terminal and Wyalup/Rocky Point Carpark were listed as exposure site linked to the backpacker cluster. The Health Department is still advising people experiencing cold and flu-like symptoms in the Perth, Peel and the South West regions to get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result. This applies to anyone symptomatic, even if they have not visited a listed exposure site. Ms Sanderson announced 24 local COVID-19 cases on Sunday, forcing her to concede the Omicron strain cannot be eliminated in WA. At the time of print, the Health Department had not yet confirmed which strain of the virus the Bunbury case had contracted.