Perth teen contracts COVID-19 from younger brother after joining him in hotel quarantine

An 18-year-old man has contracted COVID-19 after voluntarily entering hotel quarantine to care for his younger brother, who had returned from overseas.

The teen was the only new case confirmed in Western Australia on Tuesday, bringing the state's total to 838.

The Department of Health in a statement said the man's brother had also tested positive prior to his diagnosis.

"The confirmed case is an 18-year-old male who entered hotel quarantine to act as a guardian for his brother who is a minor," it read.

"The younger brother had returned to Perth from overseas and subsequently tested positive to COVID-19. "The brothers remain in hotel quarantine."

Health authorities, for privacy reasons, would not confirm the age of the boy but said he was a teenager who arrived in Perth from Somalia on December 5 and tested positive on December 8.

WA currently has eight active cases of coronavirus, all in returned travellers. Australia has no active community acquired cases.

There are 47 active COVID-19 cases nationally.