South Australia records new locally acquired Covid-19 case on Monday as restrictions loom
South Australia #SouthAustralia
South Australia has recorded a new locally acquired case of Covid-19, as residents brace for restrictions to be tightened as a result.
An 81-year-old man who had completed hotel quarantine in Sydney after returning from Argentina with his daughter tested positive in the early hours of Monday morning.
The man has received a single dose of the vaccine.
He returned to SA on July 8 and had respiratory symptoms develop over the weekend before presenting to Modbury Hospital, in Adelaide’s north eastern suburbs, on Sunday, forcing its emergency department into lockdown.
So far, 27 patients and 25 staff have been identified as being in the same vicinity as the positive case.
Premier Steven Marshall said on Monday the man’s daughter and fifteen other close contacts have been put into 14 days of quarantine and will be tested.
The daughter and the man’s grandson — who is enrolled at the Elizabeth Vale School — have so far returned negative results.
Mr Marshall again urged South Australians not to be complacent and to get tested if even the mildest of symptoms developed.
“We are on high alert at the moment in SA … He has been out and about in the community,” he said.
“We’ve now got to identify those people that he could have potentially come in contact with.
“We’re assuming it is the Delta variant but we don’t have the final genomic testing of that strain yet. That will likely take 24 hours for those tests to come back.”
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said it was “safe to say” further restrictions would be placed on the South Australian community as a result of Monday’s case.
“We haven’t settled on any specific restrictions that are likely to be brought in this afternoon,” he said.
“There are several factors compelling us to make some changes. The directions meeting this afternoon is where we will decide on these changes.”
Earlier on Monday, the Elizabeth Vale School announced it had been locked down amid fears a member of the school community came into contact with a person infected with Covid-19.
Addressing parents and caregivers, the primary taped a note on the premises that said the school would remain closed on Monday “out of an abundance of caution” while SA Health determined the risk to the community.
“We will reopen as soon as public health officials indicate that we can,” the note read.
The northern suburbs primary school had 466 enrolments last year, comprising of 413 in primary school and 53 preschoolers, according to the school’s annual report.
An education department spokesman confirmed SA Health had advised a member of the school community may have come into close contact with someone diagnosed with Covid-19.
The Premier said the infected man’s grandson had not been to the premises during the school holidays, so it would open again on Tuesday.
SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the positive case in the state was a “very serious situation” because the virus could “run like wildfire”.
She said Modbury hospital staff will be put into hotel quarantine and the patients will be transferred to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which is currently where the infected elderly man is.
Professor Spurrier said authorities believed the man’s most infection period was from July 14 and contact tracers are frantically working to determine where he had been in order to identify all possible exposure sites.
The following exposure sites have so far been listed – anyone who has been at this venue, as well as their household contacts, must isolate for 14 days, get tested on days one, five and 13.
Professor Spurrier said SA Health was also looking at where his 16 primary close contacts had been and authorities were working to determine secondary contacts who will receive an SMS message advising them they need to quarantine for 14 days.
Anyone who has been to the following locations during the listed times is required to immediately get tested, quarantine for 14 days and get retested on days five and 13:
They must also complete this form to notify SA Health they were at one of these locations.
Those who have been to the following locations must monitor for symptoms: