Police Commissioner Grant Stevens takes us to the frontline of tough call to shut down the state

Days of top-level manouvering occurred prior to SA going into lockdown, partly based on false evidence. State Coordinator Grant Stevens details what happened.

Twists, turns and changes in the direction of police investigations are common as the evidentiary trail is followed.

So, too, is the spectre of key witnesses telling lies to protect their own interests or divert attention from their role in the activity being investigated.

And, quite obviously, their lies can alter the course of an investigation considerably – sometimes even derail it.

So, when Police Commissioner Grant Stevens learnt on Thursday evening that a key player in South Australia’s COVID-19 second wave lied to SA Health contact tracers about his connection to a contamination point – the Woodville Pizza Bar – he was both concerned and taken aback.

“My very first reaction was one of real concern that the steps we felt compelled to take may not have been required,” he said.

“I knew at that point that we had some work to do to establish the way forward.

“But I am firmly of the view that our health professionals doing the contact tracing provided what they believed to be accurate information sourced through their processes.

“The review of that and the subsequent disclosure by the individual really turned things upside down.’’

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens: “My very first reaction was one of real concern that the steps we felt compelled to take may not have been required,” he said. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

The man’s lie – that he simply bought a pizza from the shop when, in fact, he worked there in close contact with a COVID-19-positive employee who contracted the virus while also working in a quarantine hotel – was pivotal to the decision-making process behind the lockdown.

Mr Stevens, who is also the state emergency co-ordinator, said the fresh information sparked considerable inquiries on Thursday night in terms of what it meant for the contact- tracing efforts and the stay-at-home direction, culminating in meetings early Friday with SA Health officials that resolved to lift some earlier than planned – including the statewide lockdown.

While the motive for the worker lying to contract tracers has not been revealed, it has sparked a major investigation.

“The actions of this individual has shone a spotlight on a particular premises, and we are now focusing our efforts to identify all of the circumstances around what this person has told us,’’ Mr Stevens said.

Friday’s bombshell development followed five days of intense activity that, for Mr Stevens, started at 2.20am last Sunday. Woken by his beeping Samsung, he took a few seconds to focus on its bright screen to see who he should be cursing.

His mind snapped to attention when he saw the message was from chief public health officer professor Nicola Spurrier.

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Its content was blunt, advising him an 81-year-old woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after presenting at Lyell McEwin Hospital.

“My thoughts immediately turned to the fact it was potentially the community transmission case that we were dreading,’’ Mr Stevens said.

With his mind now racing, sleep was off the agenda for the next few hours as he pondered various operational scenarios before speaking with his lieutenants running SAPOL’s COVID command.

As he anticipated, when Mr Stevens spoke with his people early on Sunday morning they were already well into their response and fully supporting SA Health’s emergency contact tracing procedures.

A priority that day, SAPOL’s intelligence expertise was crucial to SA Health’s mission in both locating and then isolating anyone who had potentially been exposed to the virus that had escaped from the Peppers Hotel, in Waymouth St, city.

With his diary cleared on Monday, Mr Stevens’ role as state co-ordinator consumed each minute as the situation – the number of positive cases and likely sources of contamination – continued to escalate and the gravity of the outbreak became crystal clear.

Discussions between Mr Stevens, Professor Spurrier and SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan occurred throughout the morning. At 2pm, Mr Stevens chaired an emergency meeting of the State Emergency Committee to brief each of its members on the emerging situation.

“The meetings early Monday started discussing the types of actions that may be required to control the spread, but nothing was locked in at that stage,’’ Mr Stevens said.

These discussions continued into Tuesday as case numbers continued to climb and the contact tracing revealed the extent of the spread and the number of likely contamination sites and methods.

The fact a man who tested positive for COVID-19 told contact tracers he had purchased a pizza from the Woodville Pizza Bar – where the COVID-positive worker from Peppers was also employed – cemented the growing fears of the decision makers that the virus was spreading rapidly.

People queue at a supermarket following the announcement of the lockdown on Wednesday. Picture: Brenton Edwards / AFP

Mr Stevens said the first indication of the looming response came during a phone call he had with Dr McGowan on Wednesday morning.

“We were still dealing with the community transmission and the impact that this outbreak from the Peppers Hotel was having on a particular family and the contact-tracing efforts in respect to it,’’ he said.

“That conversation raised the need for a lockdown and we met 30 minutes after that.’’

It was at that meeting the full circumstances and precise scenarios for the spread of the virus were outlined by Professor Spurrier.

Soberingly, she also outlined what SA Health believed was needed to stop the virus from spreading. Each restriction was discussed and dissected at length and its rationale intensely questioned before being approved.

“One of the very first thoughts that confronts you is that we are about to impose significant hardships on so many people,’’ Mr Stevens said.

“Our role is to, in a constructive way, challenge SA Health and the premise for what they are proposing.

“But it was very clear – based on the unequivocal advice from Nicola – that we had to take very dramatic steps, and what was proposed was the most likely course of action that would get us back to where we needed to be as quickly as possible.’’

For the next few hours, the list of restrictions was finetuned and, just after noon on Wednesday, Mr Stevens joined Premier Steven Marshall and Professor Spurrier at a press briefing to break the bad news to South Australians.

A seasoned performer at press conferences, Mr Stevens admits he had some trepidation before entering the media room adjacent the Premier’s suite in the State Administration Building.

“It is never far from your mind that the words you are about to utter are going to have such a significant impact on so many people in so many ways,’’ he said. On reflection, after 24 hours of turmoil, Mr Stevens says he remains satisfied his actions in making directions were correct.

“Based on what we were provided by SA Health, the course of action that was put in place for the stay at home direction was appropriate, given what we had been told,’’ he said.