Western Australians could know this afternoon when the state’s border will reopen as health authorities reported 194 new local cases of COVID-19 in overnight, with eight travel-related infections.

WA now has 724 active cases, but none are in hospital, while testing figures had increased, with 9305 people receiving PCR tests at clinics on Thursday compared to 7501 on Wednesday.

The announcement came as 6PR’s Perth Live host Oly Peterson joined Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings to share news that WA Premier Mark McGowan would today like announce a reopening of WA’s border on March 3 – or possibly earlier – at his afternoon press conference.

He said WA’s 2sqm rule was also likely to be reinstated to slow the spread of Omicron.

Listen to Millsy at Midday and Perth Live for the latest on the press conference

“There could also be here a little bit of movement on the border because my mail is, now that we have at least 70 per cent of the cohort aged 50+ with their third vaccination, very soon we’ll hit 80 per cent 50+, and with cases obviously rising, there may now be virtually no reason for the border to be in place, with the peak expected to be March 20,” he told Bartlett.

“So there could be a huge announcement by the Premier today.”

Hopes of clarity on WA’s reopening came as details emerged that WA Labor MP Terry Healy was listed as a close contact of a positive case, forcing fellow MPs into isolation if his PCR test is positive.

Tap PLAY below to hear more from Oly on WA’s border reopening.

Not confirmed yet but @oliverpeterson and I are hearing the same thing from separate sources. 2sqm rule coming back and border date to be set for March 3. Stay tuned to @6PR @6PRbreakfast @PerthLive6PR

— Gareth Parker (@G_Parker) February 18, 2022