Plans to open SA border with NSW/ACT next week have been postponed
Plans to reopen the SA border with NSW next week have been scrapped over a spike in COVID cases at a NSW pub.
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Four Victorians will appear in court today after being busted allegedly stowing away on a freight train from Melbourne. It comes as the planned reopening of SA’s border with NSW is put on hold.
Premier Steven Marshall announced on Tuesday that previous plans to reopen the border next Monday would not go ahead as NSW grappled with a number of fresh outbreaks. It means anyone from either NSW or the ACT will still have to quarantine for two weeks upon entering SA.
Mr Marshall said the “super cluster” event at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, Sydney, had raised serious concerns.
“We are hoping that NSW health authorities will get on top of this very quickly but we need to be very cautious.
“Our first concern is with the health, safety and welfare of all South Australians and we need to get some additional data over the coming week.”
Mr Marshall said the state’s transition committee would meet again on Friday to discuss border openings for NSW and the ACT.
Authorities are also warning of a “significantly higher risk” of COVID-19 from the Victorian coronavirus crisis.
“The reintroduction of the lockdown in Victoria is having a devastating effect in Victoria,” Mr Marshall said.
“We don’t want to see that occur in SA.
“It would be devastating to put more restrictions in place.
“It would kill jobs.”
Call to make testing even easier
Drive-through coronavirus testing should be allowed without a GP referral in an effort to increase testing rates, the opposition says.
Labor’s health spokesman Chris Picton said in other states, people could attend drive-through sites, without a referral, and be tested on the spot.
“Other states are allowing drive-through testing without a referral; we should do the same here in South Australia,” Mr Picton said.
“We need to make getting a test as easy as possible so we can ensure as many people as possible get a test.”
Health officials last week called for a 50 per cent rise in COVID-19 tests as it was the only reliable way to find out if the Victorian outbreak had spread to SA.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier wants numbers to rise from 2000 to 3000 a day. On Monday, 1817 tests occurred.
SA Pathology clinical service director Dr Tom Dodd said the two drive-through clinics, at the Repat site and Hampstead Rehabilitation centre, had been established to “ensure quick and easy access to swab testing”. “Individual patient details are collected by the GP prior to attending the drive-through clinics to make the process as quick as possible,” he said.
Dr Dodd said there were more than 50 COVID-19 clinics at which people could have a test without a GP referral. On Tuesday, the total number of tests had hit 176,370.
Health Minister Stephen Wade said that was equivalent to 10 per cent of the South Australian population.
He said in the past week, the government had introduced mobile testing clinics, launched a testing blitz on Victorians and “continues stringent active surveillance testing on targeted groups”.
South Australia has the fourth best testing rate in Australia per capita, with 10,041 tests for each 100,000 people, according to federal government data.
COVID calls hit record highs
Calls to the COVID-19 hotline have topped 70,000 as of this week as the pandemic continues to unfold, prompting officials to hire more staff.
Fast-changing situations, from border closures to nightclub rules, saw record calls over the past week, including the busiest day so far as the public clamours for information — and reassurance.
While the pandemic has destroyed jobs, 80 extra trainees are finding work at the call centre as demand for information shows no signs of abating.
Many previously worked in call centres in the travel industry, one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade said the pandemic was a health and economic crisis and the government was committed to shielding South Australians from both.
“We know the travel industry, in particular, is hurting due to the necessary restrictions on movement to protect South Australians from the spread of the virus,” Mr Wade said.
“We are acting to support employees and employers of the sector survive this challenging period and come out the other side stronger.”
The COVID-19 Information Line started on March 21 and within three weeks had been inundated by 15,000 calls. Officials started training 850 extra staff so it could expand from 15 seats to 100 seats, operating seven days a week.
The biggest call volumes have been over the past week with 11,096 calls, a 62 per cent increase on the week before.
The busiest day on record happened last week with 2412 calls, which was 174 per cent higher than the daily average of 880 per day.
Hotline officials anticipate inquiries will continue to grow this week.
Major call subjects to the 1800 253 787 line are general information and reassurance, testing, travel restrictions, workplace requirements and self-isolation requirements.