South Australia has recorded 3,246 new COVID-19 cases, with 102 people now in hospital with the virus.
Key points:
- Of those in hospital, 12 are in ICU and one on a ventilator
- Premier Steven Marshall said he was confident in the state’s testing capability, with several private sites closing
- More RAT kits are on the way and will be distributed by SA Health
Twelve of those hospitalised are in intensive care, and one is on a ventilator.
Premier Steven Marshall said a disproportionate number of those in hospital were not fully vaccinated.
“Thirty to 40 per cent of those [in hospital with the virus] are not fully vaccinated, and yet the proportion of [people in] SA [who are] not fully vaccinated aged 12 and over is about 10 per cent,” he said.
“So it’s a massive over-representation for those who are not vaccinated.”
The Premier said he was relieved by an uptick in vaccination rates, after a dip in recent days, as the push for boosters continues.
“I have to say I’m starting to smile a little bit more,” he said.
“Yesterday there was an increase, a very substantial increase in the number of people through the SA Health sites.”
The state processed 20,856 tests in the latest reporting period.
South Australia’s prison outbreak has grown to 128, but Mr Marshall said no-one had been transferred out of the system for treatment.
Mr Marshall said he was aware pathology provider Clinpath had moved to close four of its testing sites in Adelaide today, as well as others interstate.
Some families told the ABC they waited several hours in line today only to eventually realise the sites were closed.
“I’ll leave it up to the company to explain their issues … SA Pathology stands ready to make up that volume,” Mr Marshall said.
“The private laboratories in SA do a proportionately smaller amount of the overall testing. SA Pathology is the workhorse.”
He said the state had about 10 million rapid antigen tests on order, with about 1 million to be available per week.
A quarter-of-a-million tests arrived today, but Mr Marshall said none would be given away for free to the public.
“The tests will go into SA Health stores … they’re not available for the general public to do surveillance testing.”
Businesses struggling with the latest round of restrictions will start receiving financial support from the state government today.
“There will be a transfer of around $10 million to more than 3,400 businesses in South Australia and those transfers will be made into their bank accounts,” Mr Marshall said.
“We’ve got to support those who are hardest hit, in particular tourism, hospitality and of course the fitness sector.”
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