The Omicron COVID-19 strain has spread to an aged care home in Western Australia for the first time amid warnings of undetected community transmission.
A resident and a staff member at Juniper's Cygnet residential care home in the Perth suburb of Bentley have tested positive, with the facility placed into lockdown.
The home accommodates people living with dementia.
WA Health reported 94 new cases on Wednesday, 14 locally acquired and the rest linked to interstate and overseas travellers.
Three of the local infections are not linked to known cases and some have been infectious while in the community.
The surge in travel-related cases comes after the McGowan government softened its hard border rules, allowing more people to reunite with families.
More than 17,500 people have arrived in WA over the past four days with a requirement to self-quarantine for seven days and get tested.
Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson warned this week that local case numbers were expected to double every few days, but WA's tally has more than halved from the 31 infections reported on Sunday.
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson conceded the numbers were lower than expected.
"I think there is a strong view, and certainly my suspicion is that people are just not getting tested," she told reporters.
"What we saw in the eastern states was the cohort that is most active are those young people and (they are) least likely to get tested.
"Based on the numbers that are coming through at the moment, we think there's more community transmission out there than is being reported.
"But what we've seen with Omicron internationally and interstate is that it tracks along fairly low and then spikes very quickly, so we are expecting any day a very steep spike."
With returned travellers flooding to PCR testing clinics, people will now receive two rapid antigen tests upon arrival at Perth Airport.
This will allow them to complete required tests on day one and day seven at home.
The government is facing sustained pressure to reveal when the state's borders will reopen and to release the modelling underpinning its decisions.
WA's third-dose vaccination rate, a key factor in border considerations, is around 47 per cent and on track to surpass 80 per cent by early March.
Ms Sanderson said the overall booster coverage would be balanced against waning immunity among more vulnerable people.
"The waning is only against infection, not severity," she said.
"It will still give you very, very good protection against Omicron and against this disease."
The health minister insisted the hard border was reviewed constantly but acknowledged growing fatigue in the community with the government's hardline rules.
"I think there will come a point where the hard border isn't providing protection because there's seeding in the community," she added.
"I can't tell you when that point will be."
The state now has 332 active cases and one person is in hospital.
