South Australia records one death and 4,777 new COVID-19 cases

South Australia has recorded one death and 4,777 new COVID-19 cases in the latest reporting period. 

A woman in her 90s has died after testing positive to COVID. 

The number of daily cases in the state has dropped from records of 6,091 new infections, set on Thursday, and 5,666, which was recorded yesterday.

It has been a common trend during the pandemic for case numbers to peak mid-week and drop over the weekend. 

There are currently 37,618 active COVID-19 cases in the state, with 201 people in hospital, 13 in intensive care and one on a ventilator.

According to SA Health data, of those hospitalised, 140 people had been vaccinated with two or more doses, 50 people were either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated ,and 11 are listed as “unknown vaccination status”. 

Premier Peter Malinauskas said it was too early to tell if the state had reached a peak in cases yet.

“I caution actively against anyone thinking we have reached a peak here. Today’s case numbers are positive, that’s a good thing, but they are up and down like a yo-yo at the moment across the world,” he said. 

Mr Malinauskas said the state was still on track to relax mask-wearing rules next week. 

“We haven’t reached that 8,000 case number that was forecast only a few weeks ago. That means it appears we can proceed with our intended plan to lift the mask mandate on Thursday [of] the week coming, which I think a lot of people are looking forward to,” he said. 

Meanwhile, passengers have faced delays at Adelaide Airport due to staffing and equipment issues as demand for domestic travel returns to pre-COVID levels. 

An airport spokesperson said staff shortages were caused by a “high level of last-minute absenteeism due to COVID and close contact rules”. 

There were also technical issues with screening equipment that slowed the progress down. 

“We are working to put on additional resources wherever possible as we approach the busy school holiday peak, where we’re anticipating our busiest period in more than two years,” the spokesperson said. 

Travellers have faced extremely long queues at Sydney Airport over the past few days, with some planes held back to allow passengers to make their flights as people flocked to get away for the Easter school holidays. 

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