Coronavirus Adelaide: Hundreds flock to metropolitan beaches as regional areas stay quiet at Easter
People have turned out in droves at Henley Beach on the first day of the Easter break, as normally thriving regional holiday hot spots reflected ghost towns.
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Premier Steven Marshall today ruled out closing down beaches after he visited Henley Beach, saying he was satisfied people were doing the right thing..
“I was down at the breach myself today and I can tell you there were a lot of people out there enjoying the time,” he said.
“The most important thing we’re trying to… guard against is large numbers of people all congregating in close proximity. Not people walking the dog or going for a jog.
“We don’t want to see reporters, with all due respect, or members of the public going up and trying to separate people. It could be people of the same family. Or people living together.
“We have seen some pleasing signs in South Australia this Easter, compared to many other parts of the country. That is why we want to keep our beaches open.”
He added: “You go up to Surfers Paradise, (the) beaches are closed because (authorities) have not been able to get their people up there to do the right thing.
“By contrast here in South Australia, the Police Commissioner has had police out in all of those hot spots. He has had the police helicopter, plane, boat, drones… and his cars out in all of those hotspots. He told me earlier today that he was very pleased with what he has seen.
“But we are going to be monitoring it over this entire Easter long weekend. We know this is nearly always the busiest weekend of the year.”
He said he had been speaking with people around the state, and they told him it was “very quiet” but he urged people to stay at home.
He said he was pleased with the majority of South Australians as tourist attractions stayed closed and caravan parks remained empty.
“It is a very critical weekend for us, we have been concerned about high levels of people heading around the state, for their holidays,” he said.
“We are not taking off our foot off the brake and we will continue to make sure that people do the right thing over the Easter break and over the school holidays.”
The state’s deputy chief public health officer, Dr Mike Cusack, revealed another Barossa Valley cluster case, taking the total to 29. The patient is linked to a Swiss tourist group.
The seven new cases take the total SA figure to 428. At least 179 people have recovered, meaning at least 40 per cent of infected patients no longer have COVID-19.
Another 15 patients are being treated in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, six of whom are in intensive care, aged between 52 and 77. Of those, four patients are fighting for life in critical conditions.
SA Health has also published new heat maps on Friday, showing “active” cases and recovered patients. SA Pathology have tested more than 35,000 people.
Dr Cusack said authorities were not concerned by the new rise, which came after several days of much lower numbers.
“We would expect to see this number bounce around for a while,” he said. “Once you have got very low cases, there is a degree of randomness here. Seven is of the higher end of what we are going to see over the next few days.
“I think the key point to make when we see low levels of number of cases that, we think we are through this in any way. There will be some distance to travel.”
He said it was hard to predict what will happen when the flu season hits as COVID-19 was just 14 weeks’ old.
In other developments the former Wakefield Hospital’s transformation to a fully-equipped dedicated COVID-19 response facility in less than a month is now complete.
It is now equipped with a new $1.9 million CT-scanner, a bulk medical oxygen tank and 130 beds ready to be used if needed.
Reactivation of the site complements other dedicated facilities at ECH College Grove and the Repat, creating 278 additional beds.
Expansion of the Flinders Medical Centre Emergency Department and the Modbury Hospital redevelopment also have been fast-tracked, creating an extra 30 treatment spaces and 16 beds respectively, to boost hospital capacity during the pandemic.
Metropolitan coronavirus clinics including the drive-through centres at the Repat and Hampstead will operate as usual over Easter.
The State Government has also closed its Patient Assistance Transport Scheme (PATS) offices to the public as a precautionary measure.
Scheme manager Bil Slattery said patients requiring PATS will still be able to access services by phone or email, and all claims will continue to be assessed by staff - ph 1300 341 684, email PATS@sa.gov.au or see www.sahealth.gov.au/pats.
