WA testing call as new virus cases emerge

Authorities are continuing to investigate a woman who contracted the virus from an unknown source.

She was infectious in the community but did not attend work and there appears to be few potential exposure sites, WA Health said.

Genomic sequencing will determine the variant of her infection amid fears Western Australia could have undetected spread of the virus.

Such transmission has become virtually impossible to prevent outside of WA but the McGowan government has maintained iron-clad border restrictions, hoping to delay major outbreaks until more people are vaccinated.

WA Health is now monitoring 117 active cases as the state prepares to reopen its borders from February 5.

Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday warned anyone in the Perth metropolitan area to remain vigilant for symptoms and get tested when unwell.

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson this week said there was a "strong possibility" the Omicron strain was circulating in Perth after a person believed to have been infected with the highly-contagious variant spent time in the community.

The recent surge in cases in the eastern states has fuelled anxiety about how WA schools will function once the borders reopen.

Education staff are required to be double-dose vaccinated by January 31 when the school year begins.

But about seven per cent of staff employed by WA's Department of Education are yet to provide proof of vaccination.

"Since the department began phoning school staff this month about their status, the number who are yet to upload evidence of vaccination has been falling every day," the department's director general Lisa Rodgers said on Thursday.

"There is still about three weeks of school holidays left and we anticipate that employees will use this time to receive their second dose and update their vaccination certificates before school returns.

"We have contingencies in place and more than 5000 vaccinated casual staff in the system who can fill in where there are vacancies."