Originally Posted by
Chad Gates
I don't think you're interpreting it properly. Those quarantine facilities are also being built in Queensland and Victoria, and they already have one in the NT (Howard Springs), yet those places are open. These facilities are more about long term needs for quarantine in the future (to avoid what happened in this pandemic with so many Australians being kept outside the country for so long), or the accommodation of a large group of people in a facility for other purposes.
WA proposals for future entry do include quarantine on unvaccinated arrivals, so in the context of this current pandemic it may be about them and then putting them into a purpose built quarantine facility rather than hotels, whilst vaccinated travelers (hopefully soon) are not required to quarantine.
In terms of when WA will open to the vaccinated? Probably when more RATs arrive and workable close contact rules have been finalised to avoid workforce disruptions seen in the east over the last month. Meeting with mining companies to finalise those rules tomorrow and there should be 25 million RATs in the state by end of February. Other reasons like declining booster protection in the already boosted elderly and impending winter surge will require WA to be open soon, I still predict this delay to extend no more than early March, about 4 weeks from original.