WA knew test was positive

WEST Australian health officials have confirmed they “knew about” a positive COVID-19 case in the community, but chose not to share the information with other states for several hours.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook has revealed the state’s Chief Medical Officer was aware of the coronavirus case before attending an Australian Health Principal Protection Committee (AHPPC) meeting on Sunday morning, but did not report it.

“Obviously we had a positive test, we knew about it, but we didn’t know the details,” he said. “Consistent with the Chief Medical Officers and Chief Health Health Officers, that information was provided to the national Chief Medical Officer in the appropriate time,” he said.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said while the delay was up to the WA government to answer for, if there were “failures” in timeliness, transparency or communication they must be addressed.

“We obviously expected that all states and territories will share information in the timely manner, information in the timely manner, in a transparent manner and that’s very important to everybody being able to make informed decisions as to how they respond to COVID,” he said.

“It’s an expectation I’m sure chief medical officers will discuss during their daily meetings as they do.”

Mr Birmingham said it was important all states and territories understood the responsibilities they had “to one another” so that “everybody knows” how to keep Australians safe. “We’re talking about one case and one circumstance and how we handle that and whereas elsewhere around the world, they’re dealing with so many thousands of cases and tragically of deaths,” he said.