WA Premier announces opening of hard border on March 3 to all vaccinated travellers

Premier Mark McGowan said the state was "well-placed" to handle the resumption of quarantine-free travel given the state's high vaccination rates.

He said at a press conference on Friday afternoon there was no prospect of stopping an outbreak which now numbers 794 active cases.

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"Eventually there comes a point where the border is ineffective when you get to high case numbers within the state," he said.

"It is plain to see that four weeks of caution has paid dividends. It means it is now far safer to relax our hard border settings."

Once the borders reopen, interstate travellers who are fully-vaccinated - including a third dose if eligible - will be able to travel to WA without quarantining.

Unvaccinated interstate travellers will remain locked out.

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All international travellers will be allowed back in but, those who are unvaccinated must serve two weeks in hotel quarantine.

The number of unvaccinated overseas arrivals will be limited to 70 per week.

Mr McGowan insisted there was no prospect he would again backflip on the reopening.

"This date is locked in and I can't foresee a situation where it would change. It's only 12 days away so it's a lot closer than last time," he said.

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WA is expected to reach "peak immunity" in March, but four lives are expected to be lost each day once the peak is reached.

The announcement came as WA recorded 194 local cases and eight travel-related infections on Friday.

WA Health has reported 486 local cases in the past three days.

More than 55 per cent of eligible West Australians have now received their booster, while the vaccination rate for children aged 5 to 11 has tripled to 45 per cent.

-With the Australian Associated Press

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