Western Australia has reported 20 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, including many cruise ship passengers, Health Minister Roger Cook revealed today.

It comes as Premier Mark McGowan revealed a cruise ship carrying 1700 foreign passengers – including 250 with upper respiratory illness – also wants to dock at Fremantle within 24 hours.

The new cases take WA’s total COVID-19 cases to 140.

RELATED:

FIRST WA SCHOOL CLOSES AFTER POSITIVE TEST

OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE SINCE WWII

WA ECONOMY SET FOR $2BILLION HIT

Six of the cases are passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship and returned to WA via Sydney. One case is from the Ovation of the seas cruise ship.

Camera Icon Outbreak: The Ruby Princess. Credit: Harry Gough / Harry Gough

The Ruby Princess was docked in Sydney Harbour after visiting New Zealand. At least 18 people on the cruise ship tested positive for the virus, including at least one crew member.

Mr Cook said, of the WA cases, 12 were in hospital, including one in a critical condition at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and another at St John of God Midland Hospital.

As the Magnifica looks to dock in Fremantle, Mr McGowan said his first priority was the safety of West Australians and he would not allow passengers or crew to wander the streets.

The WA Government is working with the Federal Government and Defence Force to develop a plan about what to do with the hundreds of passengers.

The Premier said the Magnifica would dock potentially as early as tonight.

He said the WA Government was working with the Commonwealth on how to treat any critically ill passengers.

Your cookie settings are preventing this third party content from displaying. If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your Cookie Settings . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.

“We will let the ship refuel and provide medical assistance to anyone who is critically ill,” he said.

“We are working with the Commonwealth on how to deal with critically ill passengers. Whether it is defence force assistance, in our hospitals or medical assistance onboard, we are looking at options.”

Premier Mark McGowan said he “hates” having to enforce the closure of licensed venues today but said it is necessary to prevent further restrictions on West Australians

He said the restrictions could be in place for at least six months.

“I feel terrible about this,” he said.

“Unfortunately it’s necessary to protect us all.

“If we don’t go down this path, more and more people will be infected with COVID-19 and it will put more pressure on our health systems.

“My heart goes out to those who have built their businesses from scratch and have now had their whole lives turned upside down”

Mr McGowan conceded the restrictions may need to go “even further” with measures that would be “more extreme and impact our lives even more”.

Your cookie settings are preventing this third party content from displaying. If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your Cookie Settings . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.

WA schools will remain open but laws will be relaxed to allow parents to take their kids out of school and online learning materials made available.

“If you don’t want to send your kids to school and you are a parent, that is your choice,” Mr McGowan said.

Education Minister Sue Ellery said WA schools would remain open until the end of the term. She said he evidence of the benefits of closure was “minimal at this stage”.

“Chief health officers are of the view school closures will be more effective at the peak of the epidemic and for a shorter period,” she said.

Ms Ellery said the priority for staff in public schools was to maintain a focus on class programs.

She said Year 12 students would not be disadvantaged as a result of events and it was too early to say if there would be changes to ATAR exams.

Camera Icon Ghost town: The Angrove Street coffee strip in North Perth. Credit: Sandra Jackson

Mr McGowan said many West Australians continued to flout social distancing rules, which he described as a “matter of life and death”.

“I know this is tough, I know this is confronting, i know I’m asking a lot of everyone in our community but I need everyone to do their bit,” he said.

“Unfortunately it’s not enough, too many people in our community are disregarding social distancing measures. By doing so they’re not only putting themselves at risk, they’re putting older, vulnerable members of our community at risk also.

Mr Cook said the more West Australians practiced social distancing, the fewer people would die.

“If you need to shop, that’s fine, but you should ask yourself the question – do I need to go out?” he said.