Covid-19 vaccinations at the Show, as Spurrier says Playford leak was no breach
There was no virus “breach” at the Playford medi-hotel, Nicola Spurrier says, despite Covid-19 escaping and causing a seven-day lockdown in Victoria.
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SA’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier has defended the state’s medi-hotel system, insisting there had been no breach of protocol when Covid-19 leaked out of the Playford Hotel and sparked Melbourne’s latest outbreak.
Her comments came after Victorian acting Premier James Merlino said: “The reason why we are dealing with this outbreak today is because of a hotel breach in South Australia, that is not a criticism, it is just a fact”.
Prof Spurrier argued the term “breach” was a “misnomer”.
A report, released this week, found a Melbourne man (person A) opened his door to collect food 18 seconds after another man (person B) opened his door in the next room.
Person A likely became infected through “aerosol transmission” and tested positive four days after leaving the North Tce facility, the report found.
Person B was staying with a friend, dubbed person C, who had tested positive to Covid-19 and was transferred to the Tom’s Court facility.
However, person B remained in the Playford because he had not tested positive at that stage.
“Our protocol, to be very clear, is that somebody who is infectious … is shifted to Tom’s Court, not everybody who has been in contact,” Prof Spurrier said.
“Because, in fact, everybody that has had potential contact with Covid is in one of our medi-hotels by the very fact that they’ve come from overseas.”
Prof Spurrier said close contacts are only transferred to Tom’s Court if they rely on the positive case, such as children or, in some cases, spouses.
“These two people were not related. They weren’t family members, but they were friends,” Prof Spurrier said.
“That is no breach of protocol.”
Prof Spurrier said the term “breach” was a “misnomer” when referring to the Playford incident.
“We were doing the very best we could,” she said.
“We were following every protocol, and not only that we’ve had continuous quality improvement processes in our medi-hotels.”
It comes as the state government announces the mass vaccination hub at the Wayville Showgrounds will stay open during the Royal Adelaide Show this year, with showgoers able to get a jab while attending the Show.
Health Minister Stephen Wade confirmed the hub, now delivering more than 1000 doses a day, would stay open throughout the show period in September and offer walk-in appointments, instead of having to book through the SA Health website.
“Giving patrons of this iconic South Australian event the opportunity to have their Covid-19 vaccine when they are already on site … is a measure to help people access the vaccine,” Mr Wade said.
Last week, The Advertiser revealed how Royal Adelaide Show organisers would welcome up to 50,000 people at once for the event.
About 7000 people had a Covid test on Wednesday, one of the highest-testing days so far, Premier Steven Marshall said, on a day that SA slammed shut borders to Victoria.
That state goes into a seven-day lockdown from midnight after a Covid breakout.
Mr Marshall thanked people for their patience getting tests on Wednesday, after extended waits at many testing sites.
“We are doing everything we can to expand the times that those testing sites are available,” he said.
SA recorded no new cases on Thursday, Prof Nicola Spurrier said.
There is about a three-hour wait at the Victoria Park testing site, but only about an hour at the Hampstead site.
Prof Spurrier said 124 SA residents have been asked to quarantine as a result of Melbourne outbreak, with 104 of those already returning negative results.
SA Health has sent 50,000 text messages to people but about 30,000 people have not yet responded.
A number of passengers heading to SA have been offloaded from The Ghan in Marla after visiting high-risk exposure sites in Victoria. They will quarantine in Alice Springs.
Prof Spurrier said SA would keep its borders open to the rest of Victoria for now, but a meeting would be held later on Thursday afternoon to discuss the current arrangements.
“Because Victoria is going to require all Victorians to have a stay-at-home order, one of those reasons to leave the home does not include coming to South Australia,” she told reporters.
“So in a sense that gives us some protection once Victoria has enacted that direction.
“When we’ve had border restrictions that include the whole of Victoria it is very, very impactful on our border communities.”
On Thursday morning, it was announced Victoria will be plunged back into stage-three lockdown restrictions from midnight.
As the state grapples with the growing Covid-19 outbreak, Victorians will be locked down from 11.59pm Thursday to 11.59pm next Thursday, June 3.
Authorities said they would lift the lockdown earlier if possible.
SA closed its borders to travellers from Melbourne on Wednesday evening, causing travel chaos and placing elite sport matches at risk.
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