SA Covid updates: No new cases on Thursday, two people on flight yet to be found

Health authorities are still trying to trace two people on a flight an infected miner caught to Adelaide.

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South Australia has recorded no new cases so far as more than 230 people are tested and quarantine for 14 days.

However, two people on a flight an infected miner caught to Adelaide have not yet been located and tested.

The man and four of his family members tested positive to the highly-transmissible Delta variant after he returned to Adelaide from an NT mine on Friday.

MAIN POINTS:

• No new Covid cases overnight
• Search for two people on Virgin Flight VA1742, the flight the infected miner caught, who haven't been contacted. Everyone else on the flight in quarantine
• Tests from 119 other passengers are still coming in 
• As well, 116 people also in the airport when his flight landed are quarantining
• Three new mass vaccination hubs announced for Victor Harbor, Mount Barker and Gawler
• An extra 2000 Pfizer vaccination appointments a week at Wayville
• The man and his family were isolating and have not been active in the community
• He was taken to hospital "quite unwell" yesterday and but has now been returned to Tom's Court covid hotel
• 28 miners who also returned to SA from the Northern Territory mine have been retested and are negative
• Adelaide Airport declared a Covid exposure site. Anyone who was at the airport terminal on Friday, 25 June between 5.40pm and 6.30pm,  asked to self-isolate for 14 days, get tested and notify SA Health
• Home gatherings now capped at 10 for metropolitan Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula, Mt Barker, the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley, 150 for the rest of SA
• Masks strongly recommended in public and indoor gatherings, as is working from  home
• The man stopped for KFC on his way home from the airport on Friday - the workers have been tested and are quarantining
• The Crows have been given the all-clear to take on the Lions at Adelaide Oval on Saturday - in front of a crowd
• Authorities in SA enforced a raft of new restrictions from Tuesday - for the latest restrictions go here.

The SA borders are currently closed to all states except Tasmania and Victoria.

Updates

11:41 am July 1, 2021

Checking in at work

Gregory Barila

SA's Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier has moved to clarify the rules around checking in at work. Prof Spurrier said whether staff were required to use QR codes at work was "entirely up to a workplace" unless a business was subject to a formal health direction, because most businesses were able to trace employees quickly if required..

Prof Spurrier urged people to keep checking in – preferably via the myGov app, because it was faster and more efficient for officials to carry out contact tracing, rather than via the handwritten records. "Using the QR scan is so much better because we can automate the system and get things done more quickly. And as you can see in this pandemic, speed is really important."

11:29 am July 1, 2021

'I'm happy for Crows match to go ahead'

Gregory Barila

SA's Chief Public Health Officer says she has 'no problem' with the Crows- Lions AFL match going ahead at Adelaide Oval, provided proper protocols are put in place.

Asked about the potential for fans to attend the match, Prof Spurrier said health authorities were continuing talks with the AFL.

"I have no problem with the game going ahead but we do need certain protocols in place."

11:25 am July 1, 2021

Authorities still yet to make contact with two Virgin passengers.

Gregory Barila

SA authorities are still working to make contact with two of the 121 passengers who shared a flight to Adelaide with a miner who later tested positive for Covid.

A total 137 people are now in quarantine as a precaution in SA, including people in the airport when the miner's flight landed on Friday. They were contacted through QR code check-ins.

11:24 am July 1, 2021

Infected SA miner undergoes medical check

Gregory Barila

The SA miner at the centre of this week's Covid scare required a medical check after he became "quite unwell" while in quarantine at the Tom's Court medical facility in the city.

"The miner was quite unwell yesterday, he needed a medical assessment, but been transferred back to Tom's Court," Prof Spurrier said.

" It does show how serious this infection can be even in people who are relatively young and healthy".

11:18 am July 1, 2021

People turning out for tests in record numbers

Gregory Barila

South Australians have been turning out in record numbers to seek Covid tests, in the wake of this week's virus scare, which has been linked to an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant from a gold mine in the Northern Territory.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said 11, 700 South Australians were tested on Wednesday.

"That is a really huge number," Prof Spurrier said.

Authorities are still awaiting results from all of the 121 people on the Virgin flight the infected miner caught to Adelaide. But no new cases of the virus have been detected so far.

11:15 am July 1, 2021

South Aussies masking up

Gregory Barila

Premier Steven Marshall says he was "really pleased" many South Australians had been donning masks on public transport, in the wake of yesterday's tightening of restrictions.

Authorities yesterday were strongly encouraging people to wear masks in public, after the state recorded five new Covid cases, linked to an outbreak in the Northern Territory.

Mr Marshall said mask take up had not been 100 per cent but he was "really pleased" with the numbers of people who had been masking up.

"I've got to say I was really pleased with the number of people wearing masks on public transport," Mr Marshall said.

Twenty-eight fellow miners from the NT mine have been re-tested and all returned negative results.

11:07 am July 1, 2021

Vaccination capacity at the Wayville

Gregory Barila

Vaccination capacity at the Wayville vaccination hub will be expanded in a bid to speed up the rollout. Speaking from Wayville, Premier Steven Marshall said capacity at the hub would be expanded to accommodate an extra 2000 Pfizer jabs per week.

"There's excellent flow, there's excellent staff, they're accommodating, they can answer any questions," Mr Marshall said."We're now seeing more and more people turning up".

He also announced plans to open three new regional vaccination hubs at Victor Harbor, Mt Barker and Gawler.

11:05 am July 1, 2021

Zero new Covid cases in SA

Gregory Barila

SA has recorded no new Covid cases, a day after the state recorded five cases of the fast-spreading Delta variant in a family linked to an outbreak at a Northern Territory mine.

Premier Steven Marshall said he was "very pleased" there were no new cases.

A server who was working at a take away business, visited by a miner, who returned to SA from the Northern Territory before testing positive for Covid on Tuesday, has also tested negative for the virus.

Mr Marshall said that was a "huge relief".

Other staff members from the business were being tested out of an abundance of caution.

10:58 am July 1, 2021

SA Covid exposure sites.

Gregory Barila

Important information for anyone who was on Virgin Flight VA1724 or at the airport at the times below.

10:51 am July 1, 2021

Covid update expected this morning

Gregory Barila

SA authorities are expected to give an update on the Covid situation at 11am. Stay with us for rolling updates throughout the day. Download The Advertiser app to to get breaking news alerts on this – and other important news stories.