Bully Bakery

I know it has been a “few” hours since He posted this ....

I am pleased to announce that based on the latest public health advice, from midnight tomorrow (12.01am Saturday, 10 April), we will be raising capacity limits for certain indoor and outdoor venue with fixed seating to 100 per cent, with no upper numerical cap.

This is big step forward in the removal of restrictions – one that we can only take due to the hard work from Western Australians across the community, giving health experts the confidence to proceed.

The following indoor and outdoor venues will be able to move to 100 per cent of the fixed seating capacity, and SafeWA and contact registers will continue as mandatory:
• auditoriums and amphitheatres;
• theatres;
• concert halls;
• cinemas;
• comedy lounges; and
• performing arts centres.

WA’s major venues such as Optus Stadium, RAC Arena, HBF Stadium - Main Arena, and HBF Park will be able to have 100 per cent of the fixed seating capacity in the spectator seating and special seating spaces.

Places of worship will be able to have 100 per cent of capacity of a space being used for formal worship.

However, there are some restrictions that are needed based on health advice.

The 75 per cent limit for restaurants, clubs and cafés with dedicated seating, and the two square metre rule for pubs, nightclubs, bars and other music events, will remain in place at this stage.

However, in the context of continued absence of community transmission and the continued rollout of the vaccine across the country for vulnerable groups, the Chief Health Officer anticipates that the benefits of retaining the final physical distancing and mass gathering restrictions may well be reduced and therefore could possibly be removed.

To that end, the Chief Health Officer has recommended that the situation be reviewed in one month’s time, with further advice to be provided.

We should not forget however, given our privileged position, this pandemic is not over.

Despite the global vaccination effort, cases around the world are still rising.

Now, more than ever, we have to keep up our efforts, both in terms of our efforts as a State, including our controlled border and hotel quarantine systems, and as individuals.

As you may have heard, today the Department of Health has confirmed that three cases of the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19 have been detected in hotel quarantine in WA.

The cases were confirmed following routine genome sequencing in three previously detected cases of returned travellers.

The cases are contained in hotel quarantine, but it is an important reminder about the serious, ongoing threat posed by this pandemic.

The new strain in the UK has caused a massive spike in cases there, and today has forced the country back into lockdown.

This only reinforces the need for us to ensure that our hotel quarantine system is strong and effective.

We've recently seen other States follow our lead and implement stronger requirements on international flight crews, and here in WA we've acted to give important new powers to security staff at our quarantine hotels.

As the western gateway to Australia, we take the most returning travellers of any State per capita.

We have a responsibility to help people get home, but ensuring the integrity of our hotel quarantine system is crucial, which is why there are strict limits on how many people can return.

Our priority is keeping Western Australia safe and strong - but our thoughts are always with our friends right across the world as they continue to fight this devastating pandemic.

Welcome to 2021