WA breaks daily COVID-19 case record as Premier unveils $77m in business support

Western Australia has recorded 139 new COVID-19 cases overnight.
Of the new cases, 37 occurred in the community, 29 of those were linked to close contacts while eight were still being investigated.
Interstate or international travellers made up 102 of the new cases.
The big increase in coronavirus cases in WA is being driven mostly by travellers returning from the eastern states and testing positive while in seven-day home isolation.
The local cases were the highest number recorded in the state since the pandemic began but WA Premier Mark McGowan said it was not a cause for concern.
“This is no cause for panic. It’s what we have been predicting as we adjusted our border controls and it reinforces why we delayed the full opening of our hard border based on high transmission rate of Omicron and our third dose vaccination rate,” he said.
A $77 million package has been created for industries impacted by the delay of the February 5 border opening and other COVID-19 restrictions.
Death threat details revealed
Mr McGowan revealed further details of a letter containing death threats and a white powder that was discovered at his Rockingham electoral office on Tuesday.
The Premier said the letter was addressed to his wife.
“It had white powder in it. What they were intending was my wife would open it, and it contained a number of threats to harm her and my children and worse,” he said.
AFLW exemptions questioned
The Premier was also forced to defend AFLW players being given exemptions to fly into and out of WA for matches this weekend.
“It does have a rigorous quarantine and testing program that goes with it,” McGowan said.
Tap PLAY below to hear more from the Premier on the AFLW exemptions.