A FIFO worker may have been infectious in WA for two weeks
FIFO #FIFO
Western Australia has avoided another lockdown after a fly-in-fly-out worker returned a “weak positive” result to a Covid-19 test.
Premier Mark McGowan said the FIFO worker may have been infectious while he was active in the community over the past 16 days.
He was at an airport in the state’s Pilbara region on July 20, at the same time as a positive case who had flown in from Queensland and went on to stay at a backpackers.
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The man, who was in the Pilbara to work at the FMG Cloudbreak mine until July 27, has since returned a “very weak” positive test and then a negative one.
He is understood to have spent most of his time in Fremantle and Greenwood in Perth since leaving the mine.
“The suspicion is that he may well have been positive at some point in time while in the community,” Mr McGowan said.
He said the man was “probably or possibly” infectious in the community and that it was a complicated case.
The FIFO worker had already tested positive to the virus in March or April last year after he returned from overseas, Mr McGowan said.
Some research indicates that people who catch the Covid-19 twice are not contagious the second time, which Mr McGowan referred to as he addressed reporters on Wednesday.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said there was “no reason to believe” that the FIFO worker’s test results would lead to a lockdown.
However, he said there was “cause for concern” and urged people to check the list of exposure sites and get tested.
The man’s girlfriend and one of his close colleagues have returned negative tests, with the results of two other workmates still pending.
Mr Cook said it would be difficult to use genomic sequencing to determine whether the man had contracted the Alpha variant of the virus, because his positive result was so weak and he has now tested negative.
He said authorities were encouraged that the Queensland traveller – who may have given Covid-19 to the FIFO worker – hadn’t transmitted the virus to anyone else even though he stayed at a backpackers.
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