On Friday, South Australia began its six day lockdown – dubbed as ‘one of the nation’s strictest lockdown since the onset of the pandemic’, millions of South Australians were advised to stay at home unless to obtain essential goods and services.
With restricted human movement and all non-essential businesses shut, the state’s streets adorned a deserted look on Friday. Meanwhile, in what is said to be a highly positive statistic, the state recorded zero new cases on the first day of the lockdown. The state has also reportedly conducted a record 20,000 tests in the past 24 hours after a staffer working in Adelaide’s Peppers Waymouth Hotel in Adelaide, where dozens of international returnees are quarantining, contracted the virus. Two security guards working at the hotel have also tested positive for Covid-19, and is believed to have been transmitted by the same staffer.
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.
SA has been quick to act to the new outbreak – imposing a six day lockdown in the early days itself as a ‘circuit breaker’. SA Premier has said the next six days are crucial for the state, and will “determine if we are able to successfully stare down the threat posed by this outbreak of COVID-19”.
