South Australia records no new coronavirus cases on first day of hard lockdown

South Australia has recorded no new coronavirus cases linked to a cluster that leaked from a city medi-hotel, as authorities applaud the record 20,000 people who got tested in the state over the past 48 hours.

An empty street in Adelaide during day one of total lockdown across the state on 18 November. Photo: AFP

“We have woken up to a very different South Australia today,” Premier Steven Marshall said.

“What we do for the next six days will determine if we are able to successfully stare down the threat posed by this outbreak of Covid-19.”

Despite the lack of positive cases recorded today, he said there could be 1000 South Australians unknowingly carrying the coronavirus from this cluster.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall speaks at a press conference in Adelaide during day one of total lockdown across the state. Photo: AFP

South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said there were 23 active cases linked to the cluster, as well as a further 17 suspected cases.

“There are 35 active cases in our state … [and] 3200 people currently in quarantine,” she said.

“What we are doing is putting a double ring fence around all of those people.

“So if you imagine that all of those people have had close contacts, and then their contacts have had close contact.”

She said there were a “number of venues” – including the Woodville Pizza Bar, Morphett Arms Hotel, Lyell McEwen Hospital Emergency Department and Spotlight at Gepps Cross – where infectious people would have visited over the past week.

“And this is why we’ve done the pause to stop it in its tracks, so we can find as many of those people and put them quarantine,” she said.

“In essence, we are hoping that those people are already in quarantine because of this pause, it’s giving us time to identify them, get them tested and have that 14-day quarantine period for all those people.”

Authorities said coronavirus testing clinics would remain open longer, with the Victoria Park station remaining open for the next 24 hours and a station at Elizabeth to close at 2am.

“Tomorrow we look forward to opening a new testing station in the north, and we’re also looking to establish another testing station in the west,” Health Minister Stephen Wade said.

Medi-hotel workers ‘entitled’ to work elsewhere

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens also strongly defended decisions to allow people who work in the state’s medi-hotel system, including cleaners, chefs, police officers, private security guards and nurses, to have secondary employment.

It comes after SA Health revealed that a contagious security guard at the Peppers Waymouth Hotel – where the outbreak originated – was also working at the Woodville Pizza Bar, which is now a cluster hotspot.

Stevens said the expectation that these workers be “isolated in a complete bubble from the rest of the community” was “unreasonable”.

“These people are part of our community, and we require them to do a really important job at the moment,” he said.

“People have an entitlement to get on with their life when they’re not at work.”

– ABC