Health authorities have reported an additional eight COVID deaths in WA and an increase in ICU admissions as the daily number of cases falls.
Prime Minister Mark McGowan took to Facebook to announce the 5,351 new cases, bringing the state’s active total to 28,603.
Thursday’s numbers include eight new deaths dating back to May 24 that were only reported to WA Health in the past 24 hours.
Among them were four women and two men in their eighties and two men in their nineties.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus has risen to 260, with 12 people now in intensive care.
Of the new cases, 3485 were from PCR tests and 1,866 were from RATs.
On Wednesday, 10,417 PCR tests were conducted in the state.
WA has now recorded 871,777 COVID cases since the start of the pandemic.
It comes just days after the BA.5 subvariant was detected in South Australia after New South Wales and Victoria.
Australians were warned that the COVID threat had not only “disappeared”, but was still “very active”.
It is believed that the strain is no worse than the current infection.
Total Case Breakdown:
Region Active (new until Wednesday evening 6 pm)
Metropolitan 23,283 (4,384)
Goldfields 465 (72)
Great Southern 573 (107)
Kimberley 184 (22)
Midwestern United States 883 (173)
Pilbara 419 (93)
Southwest 1.754 (307)
Wheat belt 624 (108)