The Police Commissioner has backed the decision to plunge the Perth and Peel regions into a snap lockdown over the long weekend.

Chris Dawson told 6PR’s Gareth Parker the circuit breaker is a great tool in preventing mass spread of COVID-19 once it’s detected in the community, despite the significant impact on small businesses.

“We know the impact it has had on the community, but a greater impact is if people are unwell and they are infecting people, and they are moving about the community,” he said

“This is an imperfect system, what we try and do is respond to the facts.

“Three days has given us a great opportunity to ring fence the causal and close contacts.”

He said the emergency management team have no plans to implement a similar system to New South Wales to contain coronavirus cases.

“I think the strategy and the advice that flows from public health officials has proven to be right,” Commissioner Dawson said.

“We live in such a free community here, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”

Restrictions for the Perth and Peel regions will remain in place until Saturday, while test results from casual and close contacts of the three infected people are processed.

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