14-day quarantine for all Omicron close contacts as border rules relaxed for ‘moderate risk’ areas

Fully vaccinated people will be forced into longer, 14-day quarantine if they are a close Omicron contact – but there’s good news for people flying in for the cricket.

Fully vaccinated people will now have to quarantine for 14 days if they are deemed a close contact of an Omicron-infected person after new SA Health rules were issued on Friday.

The state has recorded two suspected Omicron cases. Previously, fully vaccinated people faced seven-day quarantine as a close contact, with 14 days for the unvaccinated.

However, interstate arrivals from “moderate risk” areas will still have to be Covid-tested on arrival but will no longer have to isolate until a result, in a win for cricket fans arriving on day one of the Adelaide Oval Test on Thursday.

The state’s two suspected Omicron infections are yet to be confirmed by genetic tests.

South Australia has reacted to Communicable Diseases Network Australia updating national guidelines that now say jurisdictions should consider increasing testing, isolation and quarantine requirements in relation to the Omicron strain.

Police at the arrivals section in Adelaide Airport Picture: The Advertiser / Morgan Sette

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier noted the ACT already required all Omicron close contacts to undergo 14 days of quarantine, despite high vaccination rates.

Professor Spurrier said SA was in a more vulnerable position than some other states because of our lower vaccination rate, meaning “potential for higher transmission” rates.

“Vaccinated close contacts of suspected Omicron cases will be advised if the genomic results show the case is another strain and their quarantine requirements will be reduced to seven days,” she said.

“We will review the quarantine requirements as we learn more about the severity of Omicron.”

Casual contacts of Omicron cases must be tested immediately and isolate until a negative result, then have day six and day 13 tests.

Premier Steven Marshall said testing was still under way on the suspected cases but authorities were being cautious.

“Sometimes when you get a new case it takes some time to get that assessment – I think they call it the genome sequencing, so we can know exactly what strain it is,” Mr Marshall, pictured, said.

SA Health confirmed text messages had been sent to people who visited sites where suspected Omicron cases visited in recent days. One of the locations is Olivers Pets and Plants on Morphett Rd, Glengowrie.

Anyone who visited the shop on Tuesday must isolate for 14 days regardless of vaccination status.

Texts are being distributed to people who visited suspected site an Omicron case visited. Picture: supplied

Eight new Covid cases were reported on Friday – three men, four women and a child.

Of these, two were close contacts of the Norwood cluster, pushing its total to 32.

Four were infected interstate and one overseas.

The source of a locally acquired infection is unknown.

There are now 53 active cases in the state, including a woman in her 50s and a man in his 30s who remain in the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a stable condition.

There are 38 people in supervised quarantine and 13 in home quarantine, while 1591 close contacts have been identified.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Omicron had thrown authorities “a bit of a curveball”.

“But we are trying to deliver on our promise to the community of SA that a 90 per cent vaccinated community 12 years (old) and above will see less restrictions in place and that’s the endeavour,” he said.

Mr Stevens said the transition committee would hold discussions on Tuesday about what restrictions would be eased at the 90 per cent mark.

“I’m very aware of the community’s expectation that we’ll make changes when we hit that 90 per cent mark because the community has done what we’ve asked of it to go out and get vaccinated, so I think there’ll be some genuine conversations about lifting restrictions once we hit that target.”

Meanwhile, all passenger transport workers must now be vaccinated by January 3, rather than December 20, and proof of vaccination is required to book rideshare services such as Uber.

Authorities also confirmed another major change had come into effect – allowing the use of rapid-antigen tests in a broad range of health settings including all hospitals.

Anyone who receives a positive rapid-antigen result must obtain a Covid-19 PCR test as soon as possible and quarantine until a negative test result.

Rapid-antigen tests are available to the public interstate but are prohibited in SA because they are less reliable than PCR tests.

The ACT has five Omicron cases despite 98 per cent of residents being fully vaccinated. In SA, 90.7 per cent of people over 12 have had their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination and 83.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.