A man in his 50s and a woman over 100 have both died in South Australia after testing positive to COVID-19.

Key points:

  • Two people with COVID-19 have died in South Australia
  • New cases are down after more than 5,000 over the past three days 
  • A top doctor says people should show care for each other with the peak in infections coming

There are 184 people in hospital with the virus, up from 169 yesterday.

The state has recorded 4,483 new cases – a drop from 5,134 new infections the day before.

More than 5,000 new infections were also reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

Australian Medical Association national vice president Chris Moy said with more than 8,000 new cases per day possible in the coming week, people should be considerate of others.

“Because there are people there who don’t want to catch it or who have family members who are vulnerable.”

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier yesterday reported the death of a child under five who had COVID-19.

She said close contact isolation rules could be axed once the state starts its descent from the BA.2 peak —  but masks and regular rapid antigen testing could help reduce the risk of spread.

Professor Spurrier said the state needed to wait for more stability in case numbers before those rules could be changed.

“We’re looking to a stage where we don’t need those quarantine requirements but, as I said, the virus is very transmissible and we still have vulnerable settings in our community where people are more susceptible,” she said.

“So there are a list of recommendations that would accompany being able to release that quarantine requirement.”

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