Australia will have four dedicated quarantine hubs for overseas arrivals but not until widespread coronavirus vaccination coverage is expected.
Western Australia is the latest state to strike an in-principle deal with the federal government for a 1000-bed facility.
It is expected to be running at half-capacity by March next year.
A Victorian quarantine centre in Melbourne’s north is due to open by the end of the year when 500 of its 1000 beds are ready.
An agreement between the federal and Queensland governments has earmarked mid-2022 as the completion date for a 1000-bed facility near Brisbane airport.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the WA project would allow the safe arrival of international flights into the state next year.
“It will increase our ability to respond to future emergencies or disasters, including the continued management of the COVID-19 pandemic into next year,” he said.
Australia is pushing to reach 70 per cent vaccination coverage by Christmas, one of two key thresholds to reduce the prospect of lockdowns.
Almost 27 per cent of people have been fully immunised against the disease with a record 279,465 doses administered in the past 24 hours.
The Northern Territory’s Howard Springs quarantine centre was expected to reach its capacity of 2000 places for the first time this month.
Case numbers in NSW are expected to rise again on Wednesday after 452 new local infections and one death was reported in the previous 24 hours.
Labor health spokesman Mark Butler said the prime minister’s failure to establish national quarantine centres was to blame for the outbreak.
“Scott Morrison bears more responsibility than anyone else for this disastrous third wave,” he said.
“It began with a breach in quarantine transport arrangements, which Scott Morrison was warned about last year.”
The virus has escaped state-run hotels up to 30 times during the pandemic with breaches leading to disastrous virus surges in Melbourne and Sydney.
Mr Morrison has insisted new dedicated quarantine facilities will supplement rather than replace the hotel system.
There were 24 new local cases in the Victorian capital on Wednesday as Melbourne’s sixth lockdown continues.
The ACT, which will also be locked down until at least September 2, reported 17 new local cases on Tuesday, taking Canberra’s cluster to 45.
In the NT, where Darwin and Katherine are in lockdown, there were no new cases but health authorities are still processing tests.
AAP
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