WA premier announces lockdown; three blood clot cases linked to AstraZeneca vaccine – as it happened

Mark McGowan says calls a snap three-day shutdown in Perth and Peel after coronavirus spreads from hotel quarantine. This blog is now closed

• Perth to enter snap three-day lockdown
• Man tests positive after flying from Perth to Melbourne
• Perth lockdown: what you can and can't do
• WA hotspots: list of exposure sites visited by Covid cases
• Australia has received only 70% of expected vaccine doses

11.09am BST

As Perth and the Peel region prepare to enter lockdown for the Anzac Day long weekend, I wish you all good luck and to stay safe. We are wrapping up the blog for this evening, but here's what made the news today:

10.50am BST

Despite one case being an 80-year-old man, the TGA says the three new cases are consistent with data from Australia and internationally that the majority of cases are observed in people under 50, and the risk of blood clots appears to be lower in older adults:

While there have been some cases have been seen in this group, this also reflects that many countries are currently only using the AstraZeneca vaccine in older age groups. Although Australia has seen more cases of Covid-19 in the under-50s, hospitalisation and deaths data clearly demonstrate that the risk of serious harm from infection with Covid-19 remains much higher in over-50s, and the benefits of Covid-19 vaccination outweigh the risks.