Yesterday, Western Australia recorded the highest number of local COVID-19 cases it has ever seen in one day.
But aside from the Health Department's daily media release, there was little evidence of the record-breaking figure of 62 cases.
There was no government or health press conference, no new restrictions and no rush on testing clinics.
Monday started with barely a soul outside the state-run PCR clinics and, despite the announcement about midday, the afternoon looked no different.
The 62 local cases, and a further 13 linked to interstate travel, were the result of just 4,351 people being swabbed with PCR tests on Sunday, along with 10 people self-reporting a positive rapid antigen test (RAT).
Premier Mark McGowan has previously said that while WA's PCR testing numbers appeared low, that could be partly due to people opting to take RATs instead, which were now increasingly available.
It is mandatory to report a positive RAT.
The Premier has said it was preferable for people to take the more accurate PCR tests rather than RATs.
"PCR tests are preferred while we still have capacity in our PCR testing clinics," Mr McGowan said on Sunday.
The state-run clinics offering free PCR tests have the capacity to test 35,000 people each day.
WA public used to COVID-free life
UWA professor of political science and public policy Shamit Saggar said he suspected there was more at play than just people preferring RATs.
He suggested sluggish testing rates were partly due to a public that had tuned out of the threat of COVID-19.
"There's a real difficulty here in WA," Professor Saggar said.
Professor Saggar said for two years, West Australians had heard COVID-19 posed an existential threat to the people of WA but it never seemed to arrive.
"That fear is something that you can't rely upon indefinitely", he said.
Professor Saggar said West Australians had gotten used to living differently to other Australians, behind WA's COVID-free hard border.
And he said it had now become difficult to convince some people that WA could not remain "different" forever.
"When they grow more unalike, it becomes difficult to impress upon people that their lives and their response to a pandemic will be the same as their counterparts over on the east coast," he said.
WA needs a plan, and to stick to it
Professor Saggar, who is also UWA's director of public policy, said public indifference to coronavirus had been exacerbated by the Premier's decision to cancel the February 5 border opening.
"Public trust has already taken a huge knockback," he said.
"The difficulty is we've cut ourselves off now, there's been a big announcement about opening up internationally and that's been put off at short notice.
"It's probably fair to say the West Australian public is quite confused about all of this."
Professor Saggar said there was very little that could be done to restore that trust, other than to announce a further plan for reopening, even if it was an incremental plan, and to stick to it.
Among the record number of local cases yesterday were residents at aged care homes and school students.
Later in the day, it was confirmed there were another 10 cases at The Cove aged-care facility in Mandurah, south of Perth — eight of them residents and the other two staff — bringing the total number of infections in the outbreak to 12.
There are now three aged care homes and more than 25 schools in WA with reported cases.
Growing calls for reopening
On the streets of Perth yesterday, many the ABC spoke to thought it was time for the border to be reopened.
"With what's going on in the eastern states, it's a way of controlling it a little bit, but eventually it's all going to come here," Phil Seinor said.
"It'd be nice to keep it up for now, until we can try and get a bit of control on it, but I don't think we are."
Jaclyn Rodrigues was also keen for border rules to be eased.
"For us to progress on as a community, we're going to have to accept travel again," she said.
"With everything that rapidly changes anyway, it doesn't matter if [Mark McGowan] gives us enough time to prepare or whatever.
"It's not up to him, it's up to everyone else and we just, as a community, have to learn to adapt."
Sandra Kerr and her partner have only recently moved to Perth from Karratha and said it was a big adjustment living with COVID in the community, even at low rates.
She said it was difficult to understand why more people were not getting tested, with only 4,351 PCR swabs taken yesterday.
"I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to do that for themselves," she said.
"Even if you don't want to think about yourself, you should be thinking of the picture of the whole community."
Ms Kerr was keen to see WA open up, with cases already spreading.
"We should be living in the [United] States now," she said.
"Everybody's got a plan that we've had on hold, in a holding pattern for two years.
"I think it's time to do it."
