Premier Mark McGowan has called a Rio Tinto contractor who recently travelled to Bali and has now tested positive to COVID-19 "selfish and irresponsible".

The worker was tested for virus antibodies by Rio Tinto prior to his return to work, and the test picked up that he had an infection.

Rio Tinto has started using pinprick virus tests for FIFO workers boarding flights to the Pilbara at Perth Airport.

The man who tested positive came back from Bali.Credit:AAP

Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller said the pinprick virus testing was not COVID-19 specific and was only used to determine whether workers needed to undergo further testing.

Rio Tinto identified eight people with antibodies, and the man was the only person positive for COVID-19, Mr McGowan said.

The Premier expressed disappointment and frustration with people who had continued to travel despite knowing about the pandemic.

“It was pretty selfish and irresponsible to have travelled to Bali…during the March period," he said.

"The people who did that make me angry, that they now come home and cause these problems.”

A spokesman for Rio Tinto said on Friday the company’s five layer rapid screening process includes a small blood sample taken via a finger pinprick to screen for viral-related antibodies in the individual’s blood.

“The screening process is not a test for COVID-19. If during screening, any viral-related antibodies are detected, as a precaution the individual is required to self-isolate and seek prompt testing at an approved clinic,” he said.

Dr Miller said the pinprick tests were like roadside breath tests in that if a positive reading was registered the subject would need to go for further testing.

Mr McGowan said his advice was that the positive man had self-isolated after returning from Bali, but he was waiting on additional advice about the man's situation.

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