Name: Coronavirus: South Australia records three COVID-19 cases; SA lockdown sparked by contact tracing lie
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Coronavirus: South Australia records three COVID-19 cases; SA lockdown sparked by contact tracing lie

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South Australia says contact tracing lie led to six-day hard lockdownWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementSouth Australian authorities say the state was plunged into a six-day hard lockdown based on a lie told to contact tracers by a COVID-positive worker at an Adelaide pizza shop who had worked alongside a quarantine hotel security guard with the virus.As a result of the discovery, South Australians will be now allowed to exercise outside their homes and the state will end its hard lockdown earlier than planned on Saturday night, South Australia Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.The man at the centre of the extraordinary developments on Friday was also revealed by authorities to have been a kitchen hand at another quarantine hotel, the Stamford Hotel.Health authorities were concerned they were dealing with a "super strain" of the virus based on the man's claim he was only a customer of the Woodville Pizza Bar in Adelaide's north, triggering the decision to lock down the entire state, forcing all non-essential businesses and schools to close and banning dog walking and all outdoor exercise.But upon reinterviewing the man, it was found he had worked shifts at the pizza bar where he was infected, working alongside a security guard who had contracted the virus at the Peppers Waymouth quarantine hotel in Adelaide's CBD."We were operating on a premise that this person had simply gone to a pizza shop, [with] very short exposure and walked away having contracted the virus," said Mr Stevens."We now know they are a very close contact of another person who has been confirmed as being positive with COVID. It has changed the dynamic substantially.Advertisement"Had this person been truthful to the contact tracing teams, we would not have gone into a six-day lockdown," said Mr Stevens.The state's Chief Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, wasn’t able to provide any information about why the pizza shop worker may have lied to contact tracers, but that did not stop Premier Steven Marshall blaming the decision to plunge the state into a hard lockdown solely on the fast-food worker.Mr Marshall said he would not let the "disgraceful conduct" of an individual keep the whole state in lockdown any longer than necessary."To say I am fuming about the actions of this individual is an absolute understatement. The selfish actions of this individual have put our whole state in a very difficult situation," he said."His actions have affected businesses, individuals, family groups and is completely and utterly unacceptable."One journalist at the press conference asked Mr Stevens if police would have to consider guarding the pizza bar because the public would be so furious."There are all sorts of things we are considering at this point," he replied. "We are putting investigators in to support SA Health and the natural consequence is we will look at all aspects of the circumstances that led to this position."Authorities are now racing to identify people who may have come into contact with the COVID-positive worker at the pizza bar who the SA government said lied to contact tracers.However, there is no way to fine or punish the man. "The emergency management act requires people to provide information on request. There is no penalty for failing to truthfully answer those questions," Mr Stevens said.He said a suspicious contact tracer conducted a follow-up interview with the pizza shop worker and uncovered the lie.It's the second major publicly known instance of a person not being truthful with contact tracers.In October, a truck driver from Melbourne in Shepparton after he waited two weeks from his original interview with contact tracers to reveal he had travelled to the regional Victorian city. Although it is not clear the reason the Adelaide man lied to contact tracers, the role of insecure work featured heavily in the scrutiny of Victoria's deadly second wave outbreak.As of midnight on Saturday, most businesses will be allowed to reopen with density limits. There will be a limit of 10 people allowed in private homes and up to 100 people will be permitted to attend religious ceremonies. Gyms will also reopen."The other news is the schools will be returning on Monday morning," Mr Stevens said.Three new COVID-19 cases emerged in South Australia on Friday, including two family members of one of the infected hotel quarantine security guards, Professor Spurrier said.The third case is an aged care worker who is a close contact of two other nursing home staff who contracted the virus. It brings the Parafield cluster to 25 cases. At least three people with the virus are being treated in hospital.Professor Spurrier warned the number of positive cases was going to rise more over the coming days, with 44 further suspected infections."Because we got in so early ... and had put people in quarantine when we first tested them, they hadn't actually become positive yet, but we will be expecting that to happen now over the next couple of days," she said. "So please don't be alarmed about that, it's something we're expecting."Professor Spurrier said she did not know why the pizza shop worker had lied to contact tracers."Obviously, as I'm not that person I can't answer that question for you ... I'm not inside that person's head. I don't understand why he said it. It's just not an answerable question."Mr Stevens said South Australia's initial hard lockdown was warranted based on the information authorities were initially provided and he was pleased to see Adelaide's streets largely empty on Friday morning."It's a great sign that people are taking this seriously and they're doing their best to comply," he said.Police issued a small number of fines to people breaching lockdown rules, including two people at the beach and seven at a party in Adelaide's CBD on Thursday night.Both Victoria and New South Wales recorded zero new local cases of COVID-19 on Friday. Victoria has now achieved t, while NSW has recorded 13 consecutive days without a local case.But both states are investigating viral fragments found in wastewater.NSW Health said coronavirus fragments had been detected in wastewater samples taken in the Batemans Bay area on Tuesday, while in Victoria, symptomatic residents of Benalla and Portland have been urged to get tested after COVID traces were found in samples earlier this week.It is understood a person who has had COVID-19 can shed viral fragments for up to six to eight weeks., with a more nuanced permit system to be introduced from 11.59pm on Saturday.Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania have closed their borders to South Australians. NSW is still welcoming visitors from South Australia and on Monday will reopen its Victorian border.Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg defended his previous criticism of Victoria's lockdown, saying it was nothing like the situation in South Australia."They are chalk and cheese," he told reporters on Friday morning."We were subject to months and months of continuous lockdown, and obviously we saw 20,000 plus cases here in Victoria. They have had a cluster of 20 cases in South Australia and a sharp six-day lockdown was announced by the Premier as a measure that was designed to get on top of the virus very early."with Mary Ward, Henrietta CookGet our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter and The Age's .Log in, or to save articles for later. is a City reporter for The Age, previously with The Sunday Age. Contact her securely on rachaeldexter@protonmail.com is health editor with The Age and a former city reporter.Advertisement

South Australia says contact tracing lie led to six-day hard lockdownWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementSouth Australian authorities say the state was plunged into a six-day hard lockdown based on a lie told to contact tracers by a COVID-positive worker at an Adelaide pizza shop who had worked alongside a quarantine hotel security guard with the virus.As a result of the discovery, South...

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Coronavirus: South Australia records three COVID-19 cases; SA lockdown sparked by contact tracing lie

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