SA Covid update, February 19: Man, woman with Covid die as cases hit 13,585

There are now 13,585 active Covid cases in South Australia as authorities announce two more people with the virus have died.

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There have been 1,118 new cases of Covid-19 reported in South Australia on Sunday and there are currently 13,189 active cases.

It comes after two more virus-related deaths, on Saturday, amid a new drop in daily infections. A woman in her 70s and a man in his 60s have died, SA Health said. There were 182 people in hospital with Covid, including 12 in intensive care and four on ventilators. Authorities reported 1336 daily cases on Saturday, which was 143 fewer than on Friday.

Figures show 97 per cent of all cases are the highly contagious Omicron variant, which has stayed constant in the past fortnight.

Of those in ICU, four are in induced comas on a ventilator.

On Friday, SA Health reported a sharp fall in the number of people in hospital.

The state’s Covid Ready Committee will meet this week to debate the latest tranche of easing restrictions.

Friday was the first time in 25 days the state recorded no Covid-related deaths.

Premier Steven Marshall said dancing at events, especially at weddings, would be the priority. There have now been 133,034 cases officially recorded since the pandemic began and 166 deaths.

Friday, February 18, 2022

School sports, excursions and extra-curricular activities will return at the end of the month, as the government eases Covid-19 restrictions.

Education Minister John Gardner has announced that from February 28, excursions can be scheduled – particularly encouraging outdoor trips.

Inter-school sporting competitions are also being welcomed back.

It came as the state recorded 1479 Covid-19 cases on Friday. There are 177 people in hospital, including 13 in intensive care and two on ventilators.

Mawson Lakes Primary School students Venuki Arachchige, 9, Rashmi Adiga, 11, and Zachary Auton, 11. Picture: Morgan Sette

Schools also can welcome back extra-curricular activities, including choir and band practice, music lessons conducted by non-school staff, and work experience.

While from February 28, senior secondary students can attend school camps and outdoor activities forming part of the curriculum, junior year levels aren’t expected to reschedule camps until the end of March.

Also from the end of this month, outdoor assemblies can recommence, along with school tours.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

South Australia has recorded another three Covid-19 deaths, taking the state’s total to 162.

There were 1440 new cases announced on Thursday, bringing the state’s total active cases to 14,068.

A total of 221 patients are now in hospital, of which 13 are in the ICU.

Two new high-risk exposure sites have also been identified by SA Health.

A Covid-positive person visited Roxie’s Beer Garden in Adelaide on Friday, February 11 between 6.45pm and 11.15pm.

A second positive case visited Marina Sunset Bar in Glenelg on Friday, February 11 from 10.30pm to 10am, and 7.45pm to 12.45am on Saturday, February 12.

The latest figures come after Labor Transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis tested positive to Covid-19.

The West Torrens MP confirmed on Twitter on Wednesday morning he had tested positive the previous day, and was working from home.

“My staff Betty, Zoi and Nick are staffing the West Torrens office to serve our community’s concerns,” he said.

He’s the latest SA pollie to test positive. Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas tested positive earlier this year after catching the virus somewhere on New Year’s Day.

He said at the time the symptoms were so mild he would’ve felt well enough to go to work before the pandemic.

Greens MLC Robert Simms also had to isolate after testing positive to Covid on New Year’s Day. He too said the symptoms had been “pretty mild”.

While Premier Steven Marshall tested negative to Covid after his daughter contracted the virus in January.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022

There were 1624 new cases announced Wednesday, bringing the state’s total active cases to 13,822.

There are 227 patients in hospital and 19 in the ICU. 1145 have recovered. South Australia has recorded 162 deaths since the pandemic broke out.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2022

Classes at four South Australian primary schools have shut down with students forced to revert to online learning, as Covid cases grow.

The Education Department confirmed on Tuesday morning reception classes at East Marden Primary School, Craigburn Primary School, Mitcham Primary School and Stirling North Primary School in Port Augusta had been closed.

It is not yet known how long they will stay closed for but further inquiries have been made to the Education Department.

Department CEO Rick Persse said on morning radio the classes that had closed had “multiple cases” and the children were too young to wear a mask.

But he said as the children involved were aged just five, they were asymptomatic and had little or no symptoms.

Tom Koutsantonis is isolating with Covid. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Classes at four South Australian primary schools have shut down.

Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said infections within classrooms were to be expected and health authorities were working closely with the Education Department to manage this.

“There are going to be classrooms where there’s more spread than other classrooms for a variety of reasons and we’re just working closely with the Education Department to have some protocols and some ways of dealing with that,” she said.

Professor Spurrier also said the staggered return of classes had “worked extremely well”.

She announced that the state had recorded 1138 new cases on Tuesday – a small rise from the 1027 on Monday.

She said four South Australians with Covid had died in the past 24 hours – a woman in her 60s, a woman in her 90s, a woman older than 100 and a man in his 70s.

There are 219 people in hospital, with 18 in ICU and five on ventilators. Of those hospitalised, 120 people are fully vaccinated, 40 are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 59 have an unknown vaccination status.

Prof Spurrier said there were 6852 PCR tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

She also announced a voting plan for those who are Covid-positive or close contacts for the March 19 state election.

Meantime, South Australian hospital dashboards have been restored after being down since last night – but Labor says the missing data might have been a pre-election ploy.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2022

There have been 1027 new Covid cases recorded in the past 24 hours and no deaths but three deaths added to the record that had previously been omitted, according to Premier Steven Marshall.

It comes as police reveal the Lion Hotel has been issued with a $5000 fine for Covid-19 compliance failures including the venue being over capacity, patrons standing for consumption, patrons failing to social distance and face masks not being worn.

The Melbourne Street venue were fined on Sunday by SA Police.

The breaches have been referred to the Liquor & Gambling Commissioner for further action to be considered.

The Lion Hotel has not yet responded to the Advertiser’s request for comment.

Mr Marshall said there were now 13426 active Covid cases in SA with 214 people in hospital, 18 in ICU and five on ventilators.

“What isn’t fantastic to see is the fall in vaccination rate – we’ve got to get more people vaccinated in South Australia,” Mr Marshall said.

“School is back today … parents have a responsibility, caregivers have a responsibility, if their child is sick to keep them away from school.”

There are now four active outbreaks in indigenous communities, including the remote APY lands.

There are 23 aboriginal people in hospital and two in ICU.

Meanwhile, almost 4000 temporary teachers have been asked to stand by in case anyone goes down with Covid, as part of measures for schools to continue to operate during the pandemic as all students return to school today.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2022

Covid cases continued to fall on Sunday but remained above the 1000-a-day mark.

Data showed 1165 new cases on February 13 and 13,631 active cases in South Australia.

SA Health confirmed two women in their 80s who tested positive have passed away, bringing the death toll of people who died while infected with Covid to 151.

A total of 124,424 people in SA have now contracted the disease.

There are 211 people with the infection in hospital, including 17 people in ICU, and five people requiring a ventilator.

Of those in hospital, 122 people are fully vaccinated, 36 people are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and 53 have an unknown status.

As of Sunday, 94.8 per cent of eligible South Australians aged 12 and over had received their first dose of the vaccine and 91.8 per cent their second dose. Boosters had been administered to 64.3 per cent of eligible South Australians.