You’re probably already aware, at 12.45pm on Sunday, 31 January, the Premier announced there has been a confirmed case of community transmission in Perth.
WA has been in lockdown before, so we know what to do. The main difference, this time, is the infected person lives in Maylands, and has visited places near some clients’ homes, and close to ECHO’s head office.
Key points:
- WA is in lockdown from 6pm Sunday, 31 January until 6pm Friday, 5 February
- If you have visited any of the possible contact locations on the specified dates (see below), you MUST:
- Get a COVID test immediately
- Self-isolate until you have a confirmed negative result
- Let ECHO know by calling 9271 7011, so we can make appropriate arrangements to keep you, our staff and our other clients safe
- COVID testing centres have extended opening hours to help with the surge in testing; testing locations are available on the Healthy WA website
- If you need to be tested, be prepared for queues – wear a hat and take water with you
- From 6pm all non-essential travel and services are banned
- At this stage, we understand essential services as:
- Personal care
- Medication prompts
- Nursing
- Other food services
- Domestic assistance
- Shop-by-list
- Transport to medical appointments
- Social Support as required by phone or in person
- ECHO will make adjustments to rosters to cancel non-essential services
- Wearing a mask is MANDATORY at all times, when you’re not in your own home
- The office will be closed during the lockdown – the front door will be locked and no visitors will be admitted
- Most office staff will work from home during the lockdown
- ECHO is expecting a LOT of phone calls over the next few days, so all office staff will be helping with the phone queue – please bear with us
- ECHO is working to secure more masks and PPE as a matter of urgency
- More than ever, ECHO will be emphasising the importance of infection control procedures which include:
- Sanitising shared spaces, equipment and vehicles before and after every use
- Washing / sanitising your hands
- Coughing into your elbow
- Maintaining physical distancing of at least 1.5m even with a mask at all times.
As at time of writing, the full list of possible contact locations released by the WA Government (https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/perth-metro-peel-and-south-west-enter-hard-lockdown) is:
| Business | Suburb | Date | Time |
| Coles | Maylands | Monday 25 January | 8pm to 10pm |
| KFC | Maylands | Wednesday 27 January | 6pm to 12am (midnight) |
| Mitsubishi Motors car dealership | Midland | Wednesday 27 January | 7pm to close |
| Spudshed Coventry Village | Morley | Wednesday 27 January | 8pm to 12am (midnight) |
| Edith Cowan University Joondalup campus | Joondalup | Thursday 28 January | 11am to 2pm |
| Consulate General of India, St Georges Terrace | Perth | Thursday 28 January | 12pm (midday) to 5pm |
| Halal Grocery Store | Cloverdale | Thursday 28 January | 7pm to 9pm |
| Venus Ladies and Gentleman Hair Design | Maylands | Friday 29 January | 1pm to 3pm |
| Perth Convention Centre | Perth | Friday 29 January | 4pm to 6pm |
| Nedlands Family Practice GP surgery | Nedlands | Friday 29 January | 5pm to 6pm |
| Chemist Warehouse | North Perth | Friday 29 January | 5.30pm to 7.30pm |
| 7-Eleven petrol station | Ascot | Friday 29 January | 8pm to 9pm |
| Coles | Maylands | Friday 29 January | 8pm to 9pm |
| Puma Service Station | Burswood | Saturday 30 January | 11am to 12pm (midday) |
| Coles Express/Shell Service Station | Cloverdale | Saturday 30 January | 12pm (midday) to 3pm |
| Pharmacy 777 Maylands Park Shopping Centre | Maylands | Saturday 30 January | 2.30pm to 4pm |
This list is likely to change as time goes on, please check for updates at https://www.wa.gov.au/government/covid-19-coronavirus.
Please bear in mind, we have done this before, we know how to handle this.
Thanks to all our safety-conscious staff who have already been calling in with questions and concerns.
This is an evolving situation and we will pass on more information as soon as we can.