More than 200 Australians who arrived in Perth this morning on a flight from South Africa have been sent to Rottnest Island for two weeks of mandatory COVID-19 quarantine.

Key points: The flight touched down from Johannesburg carrying 256 Australians

The flight touched down from Johannesburg carrying 256 Australians Those not taken to Rottnest will be quarantined in a Perth hotel

Those not taken to Rottnest will be quarantined in a Perth hotel The number of active WA COVID-19 cases has fallen by five to 43

It comes as Western Australia recorded just one more case of coronavirus, a 19-year-old woman from Perth.

Her case is related to overseas travel and takes WA's total to 551.

The 256 Australian citizens and permanent residents on board the flight, including 86 from WA, received health checks at the airport after their arrival this morning, with a number of Defence personnel and ambulance officers on hand to assist.

Premier Mark McGowan confirmed 211 Australians were being taken to Rottnest Island, while most of the remaining people would be taken to hotels in the city to serve out their quarantine period.

The A340-600 Airbus left Johannesburg and stopped in Cape Town before crossing the Indian Ocean and touching down in Perth about 8:40am.

The aircraft then sat on the tarmac for a number of hours, with 18 marked and unmarked police cars parked outside the terminal and more than 20 Transperth buses waiting nearby.

The plane from South Africa was the second international flight to land in Perth this week. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

The passengers were eventually led out of the terminal in single file groups of about 20 to board the waiting buses and as they pulled out people in masks smiled and waved to reporters.

Young families among passengers

The passengers bound for Rottnest were taken to to Fremantle Port, where they would be transported across to the island and met by a 10-person medical assistance team.

Health Minister Roger Cook said the flight contained many young families, including 40 children, which was why the decision was made to house them on Rottnest.

The passengers underwent health checks at Perth Airport after arriving from South Africa. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

"It would be better for those younger kids to be accommodated in a Rottnest-type environment rather than a closed hotel-type environment," Mr Cook said.

"For those from interstate who get to stay at Rottnest, they get to see what a great place Western Australia is."

Passengers would be tested for the virus if they became symptomatic.

WA COVID-19 snapshot Confirmed cases so far: 665

Confirmed cases so far: 665 Recovered: 650

Recovered: 650 Deaths: 9

Deaths: 9 Total tests: 405,246 Latest information from the WA Health Department





Mr Cook said in the future everyone coming from overseas may be tested.

When the quarantine period was over interstate passengers would be expected to make their way home.

One woman left with police via the front entrance of the airport to be taken to her home, where she was due to be quarantined with her disabled daughter.

The woman said she was glad to be home but she was upset at having to leave her unwell elderly mother in South Africa.

Police, Defence personnel and ambulance officers were all on the scene to assist. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

The remaining passengers, including those with complex health needs or who were unwell, would be accommodated in a city hotel.

The flight also included two people from the Australian Capital Territory, 27 of no current address, 65 from New South Wales, three from the Northern Territory, 43 from Queensland and nine from South Australia.

WA COVID-19 recoveries hit 500

Five more people have recovered from COVID-19 overnight in WA taking the total to 500, meaning there are now 43 active coronavirus cases in the state.

Of those, 26 are from WA, 15 are from the Artania cruise ship and two are from interstate.

There are 14 coronavirus patients in hospital, including four in intensive care.

A Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur arrived in Perth earlier this week with about 80 passengers on board. That group was also taken to a hotel for quarantine.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook revealed the majority of the passengers would go to Rottnest. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

An Air France flight also arrived briefly to refuel, before continuing on its journey.

Another international flight is expected to arrive in Perth this week from India, but the details remain unclear.

More testing kits welcomed

Meanwhile, Mr Cook welcomed 10 million extra testing kits procured by mining magnate Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation, saying increasing testing capability was essential to a national COVID-19 detection program.

He said this would allow WA to undertake extensive asymptomatic testing to detect any outbreaks of the virus.

It would help lift WA's capacity to 6,000 tests a day.

'It's the next step," Mr Cook said. "This is about the detection phase."

Compulsory hygiene course for hospitality workers

The State Government has announced a compulsory online hygiene and sanitation course for all hospitality staff before venues can reopen.

Premier Mark McGowan said this did not mean cafes, restaurants and bars were about to reopen, but would give them confidence they were in the best position to manage COVID-19 risks when they did.

"It's all part of getting us ready for restart," Mr McGowan said.

"We want to make sure when they do reopen we have the best and safest environment available."

Venues will not be able to reopen until their staff have completed the course. ( ABC News: Hugh Sando )

The online course will take between 45 minutes and an hour to complete and will be paid for by the State Government.

Venues will not be able to reopen until all staff have completed the course, which was designed by the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) using World Health Organization and state and federal health advice.

AHA WA chief executive Bradley Woods said it had been a terrible few months for the industry and it wanted to come back more resilient and better prepared.

"We'd love to be open as soon as possible, but we also want to be open responsibly," Mr Woods said.

"We want to be open when it's the safest possible timeframe to do that."

He hoped every job lost in the sector would be recovered.