No new community case in WA from French backpacker as business lobby calls for better compensation scheme for New Years Eve cancellations

“The events industry, in particular, has been eagerly awaiting the New Years period as an opportunity to make up for significant revenue losses over the past two years.”

Mr Rodwell said many businesses involved in the events business were small or family-run, meaning there was a risk that people would lose their homes if their operations went under administration.

Opposition small business spokesman Steve Thomas echoed calls from the chamber and said the Western Australian government should dip into its surplus to help.

“In an era of massive iron ore bargains, in large part due to COVID stimulus spending around the world, the McGowan government can afford to put in place a standardized compensation package for businesses that are damaged by government-imposed closures, â€he said. .

“The arts, tourism and events industries in particular are facing yet another grim Christmas and New Years period and should not be left alone to carry the burden. “

WA Premier Mark McGowan said a financial aid package would be developed and more information on the program would be released soon.

Taylor Rule is an event promoter for Seasons, which was due to host a big New Years celebration in Wellington Park only to find out on Monday that it would have to be canceled due to a ban on events like his being extended until 4 January.

He said 6PR On Tuesday it had been a tough 24 hours knowing that the event could not take place and that there were a lot of staff involved.

“This is huge for the whole industry,” said Mr. Rule. “It’s the biggest night of the year. More generally still, last week is the greatest, you know, the time of year for our event industry and now it’s been closed.

Mr Rule said it was annoying that the events were called off without an opportunity to discuss alternatives with the Department of Health.

“It’s frustrating the last couple of years, you know, our industry, I guess [is] the first to close, the last to open, â€he said.

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Mr Rule said he did not know what would happen after February 5, when the state was set to open its borders to the rest of Australia and live with COVID-19, regarding the event industry.

“We pretty much all decided for ourselves that we weren’t going to organize any events after February 5 because there is too much uncertainty,” he said.

The Perth COVID-19 Community Cluster, which consisted of 10 people mostly young with the Delta variant, triggered the most recent restrictions on December 23 which were extended on Monday.

Dr Armstrong recommended on December 23 that large “music events” and dancing not be allowed because the backpacker who spread the virus had frequented high-risk transmission sites like nightclubs and raves.

“I think we might see more cases of COVID-19 over the next few days among people who have attended higher risk social events, such as nightclubs and the music event the case attended. , and these measures aim to prevent further transmission in this cohort of people who may themselves be infected and witness similar events, â€he said.

“Events in which there is dancing in public places pose a particular risk of transmission, as people are not socially distanced and generally do not wear masks. “

Large public and private musical events with more than 500 people involving dancing are not allowed under current restrictions, with the exception of The Wizard of Oz musical at the Crown Theater which is exempt.

The Perth Cup was also allowed to take place, which saw some organizers of New Years Eve events claiming there is a double standard from the government, with 8,000 people expected at the event. January 1st.

Participants in the cup will need to be fully immunized and will have to follow strict rules for seated food and beverage service.

Public fireworks displays around the city may also take place on New Years Eve.

So far, 655 close contacts have been identified in the COVID-19 cluster in Perth and 46 people have yet to be tested. As of Monday, 86 close contacts had yet to be tested, with 39 of them heading to the Perth mess, which had become a hotspot for the cluster, on December 19.

There are also 1,109 casual contacts of which 243 have not been tested.

Mr McGowan said in a social media post on Tuesday that he wanted to reduce as much as possible the number of close contacts that have yet to be found to give assurance that the virus has been squashed in WA.

“They had a lot of time not only to be contacted by our contact tracing teams, but also to be aware of the infections that occurred at that time. [Mess Hall] party, â€he said.

“Disturbingly, we heard reports from our contact tracers that some had turned off their phones so that they could not be contacted.

“If you were at the Perth Mess Hall event on the 19th you have to show up and be tested. It’s the right thing to do – and it will give us the confidence to ease the restrictions in the New Year and return to the WA lifestyle we all enjoy.

There were 4,911 COVID-19 tests in public and private clinics on Monday, while WA’s vaccination rate for people aged 12 and older reached 91.5% for the first dose and 83.4% for the second dose.