Western Australia has officially been locked off from the rest of the country with Premier Mark McGowan declaring every state and territory an 'extreme risk' jurisdiction.
On Wednesday, the Northern Territory was the last remaining state to be upgraded to the highest possible risk category with the changes coming into effect from 12:01am on Thursday.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has upped the border restrictions with the Northern Territory with the entirety of Australia now deemed an"extreme risk". Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tony McDonoughPremier McGowan said the decision to upgrade the Northern Territory’s risk status was made due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the community and comes just four days after it was increased to a ‘high risk’.
In the Northern Territory there were 352 new cases recorded taking the total active cases to around 3,000. The decision to lock the state away from the rest of Australia comes less than a month before WA is expected to reopen its borders to the nation on February 5. “We are well on track to exceed our 90 per cent double dose target in the lead up to our Safe Transition - and we will continue to do everything we can to keep Western Australians safe and encourage everyone to take the opportunity to get vaccinated.”