Covid-19: 130 in quarantine but no new cases after infected truckie visited SA, as chemists get set to start roll out of Moderna vaccine

Authorities say there are no cases linked to a seventh Covid-infected truckie who visited SA, as pharmacies get set to roll out the Moderna vaccine across the state.

Dozens of people are now in quarantine after a seventh Covid-infected truck driver drove through SA but there are no new cases linked to him.

SA Health’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said over 130 close contacts were now in quarantine, linked to the 10 exposure sites. Authorities could not say how many were linked to the Tier 1 exposure sites but were “confident” all exposure sites had been identified

Authorities did announce a new case today but it was deemed to be “historical”, in a person already in quarantine in a medi-hotel.

There were no new cases linked to the infected NSW truckie.

And in other good news, the Moderna vaccine is now in SA and will be made available at chemists across the state, Health Minister Stephen Wade announced.

“It’s a really exicting day. Moderna has arrived in South Australia and our pharmacy network is ready to go to get the vaccines out to South Australians right across the state,” he said.

The Moderna vaccine is available to all South Australians aged 12 or older.

Mr Wade said the arrival of the new vaccine would provide “a great boost” to the state’s vaccination programme.

“There’ll be more convenience, more choice, more locations,” he said.

“Now is the time to get vaccinated”.

The Covid-19 infectious NSW driver visited 10 truck stops and service stations in South Australia during trips to WA, SA Health has revealed.

The driver, a man in his 20s who has had one Pfizer jab, is believed to have been in the state on both Wednesday and Saturday.

The truckie, the seventh in three weeks to travel through SA while infected, visited Adelaide’s north, Port Augusta, Penong and Wudinna.

The man’s co-driver has tested negative.

Dr Kirkpatrick said 126 QR code check-ins had been linked to the exposure sites related to the NSW truckie.

Responding to suggestions the NSW truckie case was low risk, Dr Kirkpatrick said: “We know this individual was symptomatic here on the 18th of September. This is a real risk for us. “We need to remain very vigilant that this is a real risk”. 

Regarding the October 7 deadline for truckies to receive at least one vaccination dose, Dr Kirkpatrick said: “We need to make sure vaccine levels are high and truck drivers are being vaccinated”.

“Getting two doses will be very important to provide that high level of protection”.

On the date SA is due to hit the 80 per cent vaccination target Dr Kirkpatrick said: 

“It is something we’re continue to work on and model and see where we’re heading”. 

She said the focus needed to be on vaccinating vulnerable members of the community and vulnerable pockets of the community, and not just the state-wide 80 per cent target.

Dr Kirkpatrick also revealed there are 6200 applications for exemptions awaiting approval, wth an average processing time of four to size weeks from the time of application to the time an exemption was finally granted.

She said staff were processing about 200 applications per day and were working as hard as possible to grant urgent compassionate exemptions for end-of-life visits.

On Wednesday, chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said she was particularly worried about the men’s shower block and retail outlet at a Penong Caltex truck stop in the state’s far west.

Contact tracers have classified the stop as a Tier 1 location, which requires anyone who was there to be tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days with their household.

The driver was in SA on September 15 and 18 with another seven sites categorised as Tier 2 – requiring an immediate test and 14 days’ quarantine but not with the members of the household.

Authorities are hopeful more locations will not emerge.

The AFL grand final in Perth on Saturday night is expected to go ahead as planned.

Prof Spurrier said her team was poring through QR check-ins, credit card and fuel card transactions to trace possible connections.

The driver started to develop symptoms on September 18, when he returned from WA to SA, but he blamed it on fatigue.

His symptoms worsened when he returned to NSW, where he tested positive on Wednesday. Professor Spurrier said he had a negative test on September 14.

“We require all freight drivers to have a negative test within three days prior to coming into our state. He developed some mild symptoms … but put those symptoms down to the fact he had been driving for a long time and was fatigued and hadn’t got much sleep.

“Unfortunately, it was because he was developing Covid.”

Prof Spurrier likened it to previous truckie cases.

“We haven’t had any onward transmission – but this is always a risk,” she said.

“The disease is going to come to our state. It is inevitable,” she said, adding: “We are in a race to get our vaccination rate as high as we possibly can.”

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it was understood the drivers slept in their truck and had minimal contact with others while in WA.

The driver and his colleague then made stops in Coolgardie, Southern Cross and Northam before arriving in Kewdale, Perth.

On their return journey they stopped at Chidlow and Southern Cross. They were in WA for less than 48 hours and left the State at 12.30am on September 18.

On September 19, the truck driver was again tested in NSW. On Wednesday morning, NSW Health told WA authorities that the driver had tested positive for Covid-19. He received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on August 30.

The drivers did not undergo rapid antigen testing on their arrival at the WA border because they had returned negative PCR tests in the days before their arrival.

That’s despite the state government announcing earlier this month that all interstate truck drivers would undergo rapid antigen testing before crossing the border.

On Saturday, Perth’s Optus Stadium will be the stage for a historic AFL grand final between the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs.

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said authorities did not anticipate at this point in time for there to be any impact on the grand final.

“There is no change that has been planned in respect of the conduct of the game or indeed in any other conditions,” Mr Dawson said.

Mr Dawson said based on the current advice, “everything is going ahead as planned” for Saturday’s premiership decider in front of 60,000 people.

Mr Cook said it was “really encouraging” the second driver had so far tested negative and described the threat to public health as “low risk”.

He said the biggest cause for concern would be “mystery cases” of the virus being detected in the community, but he was “very confident” the grand final would go-ahead.

“I am confident … particularly given the other driver was negative and we understand their movements and the short time they were in WA, I am very confident,” he said.