South Australia on track to end week-long lockdown after recording one new COVID-19 case

South Australia has reported one new case in its current COVID-19 cluster and remains on track to navigate out of a week-long lockdown.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall speaks to the media during a press conference in Adelaide, Thursday, 22 July, 2021.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall speaks to the media during a press conference in Adelaide, Thursday, 22 July, 2021. Source: NCA NEWSWIRE POOL via AAP

South Australia has reported one new COVID-19 case in its latest outbreak and remains on track to end its week-long lockdown on Tuesday.

The new infection is in a man in his 60s from the Tenafeate Creek winery near One Tree Hill, north of Adelaide, which is now linked to nine cases.

His infection takes the SA outbreak to 16 cases.
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said with the new case already in quarantine, the state remains on course to end its lockdown on target.

"There's still some way to go but all of the signs are the people of South Australia are taking this extraordinarily seriously," he said.

"So a massive, massive thank you. I feel proud to be South Australian."

Mr Marshall said it also showed the importance of taking early action to prevent the spread of the virus.

"This disease thrives on indecision. We moved very quickly," he said.
SA Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier speaks to the media during a press conference in Adelaide, Thursday, 22 July, 2021.
SA Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier speaks to the media during a press conference in Adelaide, Thursday, 22 July, 2021. Source: NCA NEWSWIRE POOL
As part of its action, SA will cancel international flights due into Adelaide on Monday and Tuesday.

It also continues to ramp up testing capacity with 23,410 swabs processed on Friday.

One new testing centre opened on Saturday with another, to be run by the defence force, close to operational.

However, bad weather on Saturday morning forced the temporary closure of the Victoria Park 24-hour site, Adelaide's largest.

Nevertheless, Mr Marshall said wait times were now no more than an hour at all testing sites, down from more than 12 hours at one stage.
As well as the cases linked to the winery, a number of other infections in the SA cluster have been linked to The Greek restaurant in Adelaide.

The restaurant and the winery are considered superspreader events.

SA's virus cluster began with an 81-year-old man who recently arrived in Australia from Argentina and was quarantined in Sydney before travelling to Adelaide, where he tested positive.

Genomic testing has confirmed the man became infected while in Sydney, not while in Argentina.
Signs of the man's infection may also have been present in wastewater samples checked in Adelaide's northeast last week which returned a positive result last weekend.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said it was initially thought the wastewater result involved someone who had previously had an infection while in hotel quarantine, but was still shedding the virus after release.

"In retrospect ... it's likely that the family with this older gentleman was responsible for that positive," she said.


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3 min read
Published 24 July 2021 12:12pm
Updated 24 July 2021 1:30pm
Source: AAP, SBS


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