Police Commissioner warns public to brace for new coronavirus restrictions as Australian Defence Force personnel arrive at border
Australian Defence Force personnel are helping SA police officers on the border with Victoria, as cases of coronavirus continue to rise in that state. It comes as SA’s Police Commissioner warns the public to get used to the idea of a return to tough measures to stop the spread.
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Australian Defence Force personnel have joined police to patrol the state’s border as the threat of a second coronavirus wave looms.
Up to 100 troops will be dispatched to help guard South Australia’s border with Victoria, as that state’s outbreak swells to more than 1400 active cases. Yesterday’s first full day of deployment for the troops, mostly from the Woodside barracks, marked South Australia’s 13th day of being coronavirus-free.
Joint Taskforce Commander Colonel Graham Goodwin said ADF personnel would be solely in a supporting role at the border’s 21 checkpoints.
Speaking at the Mt Gambier army depot, Colonel Goodwin said police would take the lead role in one of the most high-profile domestic troop deployments in the state’s history.
“Our directions are very specific and they are to assist police staff the checkpoints and do mobile patrol duties,’’ he said.
“There will be no weapons, no ammunition, no nothing, we are purely in support of the South Australian police.
“It is the police who have the authority to speak to people.”
Colonel Goodwin said there had been no end date on the deployment.
The troops will stay at barracks in Mount Gambier and Berri, in the Riverland, with personnel numbers increasing from the 60 to 100 in the next 48 hours.
Some troops will also be based at Bordertown, where more than 1894 people have crossed the border from Victoria since Wednesday.
SA Health has been notified by NSW counterparts that a significant outbreak of coronaviruses cases is linked to the Crossroads Hotel, in Liverpool, Sydney.
The hotel, on the Hume Highway, is a popular stop for interstate truck drivers.
Anyone who visited the hotel between July 3-10 must self-quarantine and be tested.
The warning comes after a Bordertown truck driver learnt he had come into contact with people in NSW who tested positive to COVID-19.
The driver is in self-quarantine and has returned a negative virus test.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has previously said the escalating cases interstate posed a genuine threat and harsh restrictions would be on the table again if the community didn’t take it seriously.
“I don’t think people appreciate the very delicate situation we are in at the moment,” he said.
As well as road transport, police have also put in place with lock operators on the River Murray a block on Victorian vessels travelling into SA.
Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin welcomed the introduction of troops to the region.
“We have so many access points into South Australia and our region, so it has been easy until now for people to get into SA,’’ she said.
“It has really stretched SAPOL’s resources.’’
She said the “essential traveller” status was working well for people who lived in border communities and travelled into SA for work each day.
“There has been some confusion, for example someone living in Mt Gambier having to go to Warrnambool for specialist treatment like oncology,’’ she said.
“All they do is go to the hospital and come home, but then they have to self-isolate for 14 days, which is odd.”
TOP COP WARNS OF SECOND WAVE
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mail after a meeting of the Transition Committee, Mr Stevens, also SA’s COVID co-ordinator, said authorities were concerned about the Victorian “second wave”.
“I don’t think people appreciate the very delicate situation we are in at the moment,” Mr Stevens said.
“We are very, very lucky that we have no active cases that we know about. But it is only 400km away and it is spreading through that community. We want people to be safe but (they) need to do the right thing to ensure that we can be safe. I’m not sure everybody is remembering that.”
He said the committee, which involved chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier and other senior public servants, discussed Victoria’s outbreak and the “potential for that to be a problem that threatens us for at least weeks”.
“We have done so well in South Australia to contain the virus and what we are seeing in Victoria raises concerns for us now about the potential threat to the … community,” he said.
“We’ve allowed people to return to as much normality as possible.
“But that also creates a prime opportunity for the virus to spread more quickly if it finds its way into South Australia. As much as we have done to lock down our borders, it’s impossible to eliminate all possibilities of the virus coming back.”
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Mr Stevens said the “genuine threat” kept him awake at night and that the committee discussed what it would “look like for us to reintroduce restrictions on a community that’s done really well when there’s no current evidence of the virus being here but we have this significant threat on our doorstep”.
“Taking steps to reintroduce those restrictions is not one that is going to be done lightly. We know the impact of these restrictions but they’re necessary to protect the community. It’s finding that balance,” he said.
“We don’t want people’s businesses to fail, we don’t want people to go through the heartache of unemployment.
“But there’s a public health imperative here that needs to be addressed. The economic impact of a full blown COVID-19 outbreak in (SA) would be more devastating.”
Despite the life-threatening virus, Mr Stevens said people had “slipped into a sense of complacency” but he understood community pressures and attempts to break rules.
Despite the “major impact” on police resources, he said the crisis was a “masterclass in teamwork” among agencies.
Night clubs face new clamp down
High-risk activities such as reopening nightclubs could be revoked if a new coronavirus outbreak erupts amid a “high level” of complacency among the young, authorities warn.
Nightclub and licensed venue operators are frantically reviewing operations after delays with official guidance on how to safely reopen dance floors to drinking patrons.
Almost a fortnight after clubs were allowed to open, SA Health late on Friday published a special COVID-19 “management plan” template.
Under the new rules, each venue, or event with at least 1000 people, must now have a plan approved before they can relaunch their dance floors.
But the Transition Committee has decided high-risk activity, such as nightclubs reopening or dancing while drinking, will be among the first to be scrapped if the Victorian virus crisis escalates.
Plans may take several weeks to approve. An SA Health spokeswoman said the reviews would include site visits and inspections.
“If there is an increase in community transmission of COVID-19, existing … plans may be reviewed to ensure activities are still safe to proceed,” she said.
“In the event of a widespread outbreak, approval … may need to be revoked.”
As more officers patrolled the city last night, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told of his alarm at Hindley St patrons’ refusal to follow rules. He said nightclubs could open to help trade, but health chiefs viewed it a “high risk activity”.
“There is ample evidence (that) COVID-19 spreads like wildfire in those types of environments,” he said. “I think (what) we saw last weekend in Hindley Street is a very clear indicator that not everybody is doing the right thing.
“Even if the venue operators are doing the right thing, the patrons they’re attracting demonstrated no regard for social-distancing rules and put themselves and others at risk.
“This high level of complacency in some of the younger cohort is where we probably need to do some work.”