Outbreak of UK coronavirus variant could see WA go ‘hard and fast’ into lockdown, top health authority says

Western Australia would use lockdowns as the second line of defence if the highly transmissible UK COVID strain got into the state, after contact tracing, the state’s health incident controller says.

WA has enjoyed a relatively normal existence since the global pandemic was declared, with restaurants and other businesses reopening far earlier last year than many in the east, and virtually no community transmission reported.

But that would change in the event of an outbreak, State health incident coordinator Dr Robyn Lawrence said.