Two people in South Australia have died with COVID-19 in the past 48 hours, as the state set a new daily case record.
Key points:
- Two people with COVID-19 have died in SA in the past 48 hours
- There are currently 144 people in hospital, including 16 in ICU
- A new booster clinic will open from January 12
One person who died was in their 60s, the other was in their 90s and both had underlying health conditions.
The state recorded 3,707 new cases in the past 24 hours and Premier Steven Marshall said there were now 144 people in hospital, up from 123 yesterday.
Mr Marshall said 16 of those hospitalised were in ICU, four more than yesterday, and one remained on a ventilator.
He also said four people were in hospital at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, but no children were in ICU.
Mr Marshall said around 92 per cent of people in hospital have the Omricon variant.
He also said that 356 SA Health staff have tested positive to COVID-19, 48 more than yesterday.
However, he said there had been a reduction in the number of SA Health staff isolating due to being close contacts.
New booster clinic opens
Authorities today announced the opening of a new vaccination clinic dedicated to booster shots.
The new clinic will open in Mile End, in Adelaide’s inner west, from January 12.
The bookings-only clinic, at Netball SA’s stadium, will operate daily from 8am until 4pm.
Only adults aged over 18 can attend the clinic, and only Moderna vaccines will be available.
The clinic will have capacity to vaccinate up to 5,000 people per week, but that will increase to 15,000 in the coming weeks.
Online bookings will be open from today and Chief Public Health Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier encouraged anyone who had their second dose at least four months ago to make an appointment.
“Data from around the world is showing three doses are needed to provide enhanced protection against transmission and serious illness from Omicron,” she said.
New close contact exposure sites named
SA Health added 13 new close contact exposure sites to its website on Thursday night, most of them gyms.
Anytime Fitness in Murray Bridge has been listed across four days between December 29 and January 1, while Derrimut 24:7 gyms at Melrose Park and Gepps Cross also have multiple days of exposure.
Two venues in the Limestone Coast beachside town of Robe, which has seen a spike in cases during the holiday season, have also been added to the list.
Under SA Health’s recently updated contact tracing protocols, exposure sites will only be listed for high-risk settings, when there has been confirmed transmission, or where there were specific groups of vulnerable people.
You can find information on testing site hours and the nearest site to you on the SA Health website.
Disability carers allowed to keep working while COVID positive
SA Health has confirmed some disability carers have been allowed to continue working while COVID positive.
In a statement, SA Health said workers at disability support service Minda were among those that had been granted permission to keep working while COVID positive.
Minda’s Brighton accommodation campus went into a hard lockdown from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Eve, after a staff member tested positive.
The number of positive workers across the organisation grew to 38 by December 29, while nearly 200 others were in isolation after being deemed contacts.
“Due to the very specific needs of some clients in the disability sector, permission has been provided to some disability care workers, including workers at Minda, to continue working if they have recently tested positive to COVID-19,” SA Health’s statement read.
“This would allow these complex needs clients to continue to receive their required one-on-one care, particularly if both the worker and client have both tested positive.”
SA Health said disability care staff who were given permission to continue working while COVID-positive must wear full PPE at all times, not interact with other staff, and must continue to isolate when not at work.
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