Covid’s spreading fast around SA: Latest data for every council area

A quarter of Adelaide’s metropolitan councils each have more than 500 active Covid cases – and the latest data shows where the virus is spreading fastest.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is no longer being updated and the data cited in it is now out of date. For the latest Covid heatmap coverage as of January 5, 2022, go here.

Fourteen out of the 20 metropolitan councils have more than 200 active Covid-19 cases in the most recent figures, with Adelaide, Campbelltown and Playford recording the highest rate of cases per capita.

Five council areas – Adelaide, Playford, Salisbury, Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield – have over 500 active cases each.

Adelaide City Council cases have soared in recent days, with one in every 32 people having contracted the virus, from one in 53 residents in the previous set of figures.

An SA Health spokeswoman said international and overseas stays in medi-hotels were not counted in the Adelaide data, however SA residents staying in medi-hotels because they were unable to isolate at their homes were included.

Playford Council cases have nearly doubled, with 806 cases reported in the area, up from 445 – meaning one person for every 111 people around Elizabeth currently have Covid, based on the population in the 2016 Census.

Several areas further from the city have seen a spike, including Onkaparinga where cases have more than doubled from 195 to 478. This means one in every 349 people have Covid in that region, compared with one in every 855 a couple of days ago.

* Population per council area is based on the 2016 Census

SA was hit with 1471 new cases on Wednesday and 1374 cases on Thursday, when it was revealed a child aged under two with the virus had died.

Federal government vaccination data to mid December shows a strong correlation between Covid cases and areas with poor vaccination rates. Playford has the lowest full vaccination rate in Adelaide, at 60.7 per cent.

Onkaparinga Mayor Erin Thompson said the city reached an 87.1 per cent full vaccination rate a few days before Christmas.

“Council has taken a precautionary approach regarding exposure and how we manage our services to keep everyone safe,” she said.

Ms Thompson said holiday hot spots had also served as an early warning to locals to prepare for an influx after border openings.

“Willunga and Seaford, for example, were also among the first to experience cases following the opening of South Australia’s borders, which could have made people more aware about their exposure and the ways they’ve moved about in the community,’’ she said.

Regional centres are also seeing growing numbers, including Mallala, where cases have tripled from three to 12, and Loxton, from four cases to 16.

Mt Barker’s local council area has grown from 49 cases to 107 cases.

Tea Tree Gully’s council area has risen from 206 active cases to 383 – so one in 255 people are infected.

Tammy Camp and her family, Lachlan, 9, Adyson, 14, and husband Robert Camp, at Playford shopping centre. The Playford council area has SA’s highest number of cases. Picture: Dean Martin

An SA Health spokeswoman said the data was not being used for any purpose other than informing the public.

Playford mother-of-four Tammy Camp said her family was taking strict precautions and sticking to a small number of visited businesses and venues and had no family members or friends yet positive to Covid-19.

“We have a big council area but we have had low vaccination rates,’’ she said.

“We’re all vaccinated except my youngest is too young and he is petrified of needles.

“We use masks, gel for our hands, scan in everywhere and avoid going beyond our local supermarket and don’t go too far from home.

“We’re just trying to maintain as normal a life as possible.”