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Coronavirus WA: Two more close contacts of COVID positive FIFO worker test negative

Peter LawThe West Australian
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The line at the RPH Covid testing clinic in Perth on Wednesday.
Camera IconThe line at the RPH Covid testing clinic in Perth on Wednesday. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian

Two more close contacts of a COVID positive FIFO worker have tested negative overnight, in another encouraging sign Perth will dodge lockdown.

The swabbed pair were a colleague and housemate of case 1059, who yesterday returned a very weak positive result.

The FIFO worker’s partner had previously tested negative, raising hope that he was not infectious. One more close contact’s result is pending.

The man worked as a maintenance contractor at Fortescue Metal Group's Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara between July 20 and July 27 and went on to attend venues in Fremantle, Scarborough and Subiaco.

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He is believed to have contracted the virus at Perth Airport from a Queensland man who flew there on July 20 and was subsequently denied entry to WA. That man tested positive to the Alpha variant of the virus upon returning to Brisbane.

To further complicate the situation, the FIFO worker previously contracted COVID-19 in March last year. Fortescue said he was asymptomatic while at the mine site and his infection was detected as part of routine testing.

The queue for COVID testing at Royal Perth Hospital on Wednesday.
Camera IconThe queue for COVID testing at Royal Perth Hospital on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Traill/The West Australian

Yesterday, scores of West Australians have joined queues at Royal Perth Hospital’s COVID testing clinic in the wake of news.

Within an hour of the Premier’s announcement, dozens of people presented themselves to get swabbed.

Many of them had visited exposure sites at the same time the potentially infectious FIFO worker had.

One front-line health worker rushed to the clinic after discovering he had been at Perth Airport during an exposure time listed on the State Government’s Healthy WA website.

By 3.30pm on Wednesday, the clinic’s line had spilled out on the footpath running along Murray Street, outside of the hospital.

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