South Australia has now entered lockdown, after health authorities confirmed the state’s outbreak is the Delta strain.
Key points:
- A fifth COVID case has been detected in South Australia
- The state went into lockdown from 6:00pm
- Schools will be closed from tomorrow
They have so far identified five cases linked to the current cluster.
The lockdown, which began at 6:00pm, will last for seven days.
The fifth case was identified in a diner who went to The Greek on Halifax restaurant on Saturday night at the same time as a contact of the original case — a man who came back from Argentina earlier this month.
“We hate putting these restrictions in place but we believe we have one chance to get this right,” Mr Marshall said.
A fourth case was announced on Tuesday morning, but Mr Marshall said the fifth case — not from among the original family — was “far more worrying”.
“We have no alternative but to impose some fairly heavy and immediate restrictions to come in — at 6:00pm tonight South Australia moves into lockdown,” the Premier said.
The only reasons to leave home are to care for someone, for essential work, to purchase essential goods such as food, exercise with people from the same household and healthcare — including COVID testing and vaccination.
Exercise must be within 2.5 kilometres of home and only for up to 90 minutes per day.
Support for businesses is expected to be announced tomorrow.
Schools will be closed from tomorrow with a 24-hour transition period in place for teachers to arrange at-home learning.
Elective surgery is on hold and construction will not be allowed to go ahead.
People will need to stay in the house they have chosen to go to by 6:00pm.
Worry about cases from party
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the fifth case was a man in his 60s who had been to The Greek on Halifax on Saturday night.
The restaurant was added to SA Health’s exposure site list on Monday.
She said the man had been at a “celebratory function”, possibly a birthday party, at the restaurant in a private function room with another case.
She said the area was not well ventilated and there may have been singing and loud talking that could easily spread the virus.
About 3,000 people are now in home quarantine, including people who had visited Victorian exposure sites.
QR check-ins have been above 2 million every day since Thursday, except for Sunday, which is typically lower.
A temporary COVID testing site has opened at the Waterworld Aquatic Centre in Ridgehaven.
SA Pathology clinical services director Tom Dodd thanked people for their patience during extended waiting times for testing and said more staff had been put on from Tuesday.
Turnaround times were about 12–14 hours, he said, despite a record number of swabs being taken.
Professor Spurrier said the original case could have been contracted at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where the elderly man spent some of his time in quarantine, or in his taxi to the Sydney Airport or in his flight to Adelaide.
Healthcare among reasons to leave home
Obtaining healthcare is one of a handful of approved reasons residents can leave their homes during the lockdown, although all elective and cosmetic surgery has been cancelled from 6:00pm until the same time next Tuesday.
Alison Morcom has had a lifetime of nose and throat issues, and was supposed to be having an elective surgery next Tuesday morning to repair her collapsed septum.
Ms Morcom said she’s “frustrated” it has now been pushed back.
“When I saw the surgeon, earlier in July, he said, I wouldn’t wait.”
She said there should be more discretion on what surgeries can and can’t go ahead.
“It should be up to the individual surgeons and the private hospitals and the amount that you pay out, to be able to have these things done in a time frame that suits you,” Ms Morcom said.
Emergency surgery can still go ahead, along with “non-emergency but urgent” services to prevent loss of life, injury or permanent disability.
Hospitals and GPs can stay open, as well as any services within them.
People can leave their homes for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, along with other immunisations and donating blood.
Dentists can only treat patients who require urgent surgery, while allied health will have to operate via telehealth — apart from mental health care in which a virtual service might not be appropriate.
Maternal and child health workers caring for newborns and at-risk babies and children are considered essential workers.
IVF cycles that have already started can continue, while abortions will also be allowed.
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