WA has registered 7,174 new COVID cases and six deaths as the state government relaxes its mandatory vaccination policy.
The numbers are slightly lower than the previous day’s numbers, with 7,871 reported on Thursday.
The six new deaths dating back to May 19, reported to WA Health yesterday, are two men and two women in their 80s, one woman in their 70s and one man in their 60s.
It was reported on Thursday that WA’s COVID death toll has reached 300 since the start of the pandemic, following overnight reports that five more lives had been lost.
However, WA Health said Friday it had reclassified two previous deaths as non-COVID-related, bringing the updated toll to 304.
There are now 279 people in hospital and 16 in intensive care.
The new COVID cases were distributed across all state regions, with the majority of new infections occurring in the metropolitan area (5775).
Then came the South West (449 new cases), Mid West (224 new cases), Wheatbelt (162 new cases), Great Southern (150 new cases), Pilbara (136 new cases), Goldfields (108 new cases), and Kimberley ( 54 new cases).
There are now 39,199 active COVID cases in WA.
The latest COVID update comes amid the WA government’s decision to drop the vaccination mandate for most state employees effective Friday.
While major companies such as Coles, Woolworths and BHP have decided to continue to ban unvaccinated workers from their facilities, this move has prompted others, such as Rio Tinto and Woodside Energy, to scrap their jab requirements, paving the way for workers who hesitating to vaccinate. back to work.
Although the no-jab, no-job mandate for the commodities sector sparked protests from FIFO workers in late 2021, it is believed that all but 2 to 3 percent of workers have met the requirements.