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Carrie Bickmore's heartbreaking WA border confession: 'Desperate'
The Project’s Carrie Bickmore has spoken about assuming she would never see her family in WA again, as the state prepares to open up to the rest of the country on February 5th.
Speaking on the Channel 10 show, Carrie, who has just returned to her hosting job after taking some time off over Christmas, said she understands why residents in WA would feel some trepidation about opening the border.
“To be honest, I just assumed February 5th would never happen. I was just waiting for him to continue to change the day. I assumed I would never see them ever again at this rate,” she said.
“But if it does stay at February 5th, it’s an interesting conversation. I think throughout the pandemic, things have changed along the way about whether it’s appropriate for them to open up or not but now I can imagine a lot of them sitting there looking at what’s happening on the East Coast going ‘Why would we want any of that?’.
“So, as desperate as I want to get to WA, I can imagine the trepidation, particularly for people who work within the health system.
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Over the weekend, the 41-year-old shared some family photos from her Christmas holidays online, saying she was missing her loved ones in WA.
“Back at work tomorrow after some sunny time with the fam. Still missing many of the people I love badly…due to the WA border closure but know how lucky we were to even have some downtime as a fam…so feeling very grateful and ready for another big year of work. Sending so much love to everyone in these weird times,” she wrote.
The WA government has outlined stringent new proof of vaccination requirements that will come into effect ahead of the February 5 border reopening.
But the premier on Monday again declined to reveal what public health restrictions would apply to people who are vaccinated or how the government would define close contacts of COVID-19 cases.
Mr McGowan is also yet to release any modelling on the likely impact of the Omicron variant.
The Australian Medical Association believes WA could face up to 60,000 cases per day unless tough rules are enforced.
Face masks are again being enforced in Perth and the Peel region. From 6pm on Monday, masks must also be worn in the South-West region.
Multiple cases have been linked to U Natural Spa Therapy in the riverside suburb of Applecross, including four people who worked there.
At least one of those staff also worked at a massage parlour in Mt Lawley while infectious, prompting an urgent call for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms to get tested.
"We expect there are more cases in the community and we need to track them down," Premier Mark McGowan told reporters.
"Test results that are returned today and tomorrow will be telling."
Perth Festival meanwhile announced it would no longer proceed with its multi-venue opening event which had been scheduled for February 11 and 12.
The festival cited difficulties with proof of vaccination requirements and the availability of staff and artists due to potential illness or isolation.
Additional reporting by AAP
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