Garden of Unearthly Delights DJ asked to turn off music after people danced in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions

A DJ was told to shut down his music at the Garden of Unearthly Delights because patrons kept dancing. He – and industry leaders – want confusing rules eased.

An Adelaide DJ asked to turn his music off at the Garden of Unearthly Delights on Saturday night is calling on the State Government to ease confusing dance restrictions.

Event organizers asked DJ Pedro Moshman, who was playing ambient music outdoors, to turn his music off after patrons continued to dance despite being reminded of the no dance requirement due to COVID-19.

The 47-year-old DJ said South Australians had worked hard to keep their community safe and should be allowed to enjoy the benefits – including dancing.

He said the entertainment, arts and hospitality sectors needed to get back on to their feet for the financial benefit and the mental health of the industries.

A spokeswoman for the Garden of Unearthly Delights said the music and dancing was stopped in order to comply with the event’s COVID Management Plan and ensure the event continues.

She said the Garden was working with various groups to find a COVID safe way forward for dancing without jeopardising safety and the event.

“The garden believes abstinence is not the way forward – instead we prefer education and safe execution,” she said.

The Garden of Unearthly Delights opening night on February 19. Picture: Dean Martin

Crowd caps on gatherings may soon be boosted and other public restrictions also eased as authorities investigate further relaxing South Australia’s coronavirus lifestyle.

The COVID-19 transition committee will on Wednesday debate various public activity restrictions and the likely lifting of Greater Melbourne travel bans on Thursday.

The details came as authorities on Monday defended the state’s traveller quarantine system after The Advertiser revealed a major security breach at Adelaide’s main medi-hotel.

Senior government sources said some officials were “agitating” for public activities to relax as industry leaders called for licensed venue rules to urgently ease, including on crowd caps and dancing while drinking alcohol.

On Monday Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Melbourne borders should ease from midnight on Thursday after the statewide Victoria lockdown lifted but testing requirements were still being considered.

“All the indicators are we’ll be able to relax those restrictions … for the greater Melbourne area,” he said.

“We are always talking about public activities and we do have a discussion scheduled about what opportunities exist to actually relax some of those restrictions.

“There are no outcomes from that (yet) but it is something that is on our agenda and something we are keen to pursue.

“Given the fact that with Victoria coming out of a strict lockdown, we have the opportunity maybe to revisit some of those caps and other conditions that were placed on the South Australian community.”

Hotels Association boss Ian Horne said “dancing with minimal restrictions would be safe, popular and a positive economic catalyst for hospitality”.

“Restoration of dancing within hotels, pubs, sporting & community clubs, live music venues and those in the late night economy is crucial for restoring viability and retaining and creating jobs,” he said.

“SA should follow the lead of other states by allowing increased dancing opportunities.

“With no community transmission, excellent QR Scanning take up and continuing density controls, allowing dancing with minimal restrictions would be safe, popular and a positive economic catalyst for hospitality and the jobs it sustains.”

Under the state’s emergency laws, authorised by Mr Stevens as COVID state co-ordinator on the committee’s advice, licenced venues are capped at 50 per cent capacity but some entertainment venues can have 75 per cent limits if masks are worn.

Private functions, including weddings and funerals, are allowed up to 200 guests while home gatherings are restricted to a maximum 50 people.

Home gatherings of up to 200 people require a COVID-Safe Plan, a crowd marshal and QR code check-ins.

Any larger requires a special SA Health approved COVID management plan as does allowing dancing and drinking alcohol in venues.

Mr Stevens and chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier defended Pullman Hotel security, after two young male cleaners accidentally entered the Hindmarsh Square quarantine facility in “red zone” lockdown.

They were forced into 14 days quarantine but returned negative COVID tests.

A security review ordered signage be immediately added to a backdoor while a lift was locked. “This is a complex system that we’re operating,” Mr Stevens said.

“People do their very best but even in the best system, you will have oversights, errors and mistakes that are made.

“It’s about having the ability to recover from those and put the checks and balances in place.

“There’s no one in these hotel environments that are deliberately doing the wrong thing.”

Professor Spurrier said the breach was “detected very, very quickly”.

“I’m still very confident and I know there was no risk to public health,” she said.