SA on track to open border with NSW this week, despite new locally acquired COVID-19 cases
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall says the border with NSW is still set to open this week, despite several new cases in the eastern state, including a taxi driver who worked for eight days while infected with coronavirus. Do you agree with the plan?
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SA Premier Steven Marshall still hopes to open the border with NSW, despite the eastern state recording four new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in as many days.
Six new cases were identified in NSW last Friday, with one being a locally-acquired case from Liverpool Hospital.
The other five cases on Friday were in hotel quarantine.
On Saturday, NSW recorded two new cases in hotel quarantine and one locally acquired case, who worked at Concord Hospital while potentially infectious.
An exclusive Sunday Mail-YouGov poll on Friday revealed almost two-thirds of respondents want the SA border closed to all residents of a state with active community transmission of COVID-19, such as Victoria.
And, on Sunday, one person tested positive in hotel quarantine, while there was another locally acquired case picked up at Liverpool Hospital – believed to be a Western Sydney taxi driver who worked for more than a week while infected with COVID-19.
NSW Health says the man is likely to have caught the virus at Liverpool Hospital and he had the COVIDSafe app, which is being used to track the potential spread.
It was reported the man drove a taxi for eight days while potentially infectious with coronavirus, sparking a large-scale contact tracing effort across the city.
Another locally acquired case was recorded in NSW on Monday morning, as well as three more cases in hotel quarantine.
The new locally acquired case is a household contact of a previously reported case linked to Concord Hospital. This person had been identified as a close contact and was in isolation. Investigations and contact tracing are continuing.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 21, 2020
Mr Marshall said SA Health is closely monitoring the situation in NSW, but the aim is still to open the borders this week.
“Nicola Spurrier and the Transition Committee will look at (the NSW cases) very closely when they meet tomorrow,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide on Monday morning.
“But, we are hoping we can get the border with NSW open this week.
“It’s not necessarily about the numbers, but the type of infections. We are more concerned obviously about community transmission.”
Mr Marshall said, once the decision is made to open the border, it will take effect immediately.
“We know this has been massively inconvenient for business, but also for family reunions,” he said.
“You see families completely dislocated, parents not being able to see children … there’s a lot of reasons we want this to happen, but we can’t do it until it is safe to do so.”
“We look at every single case, I think we have taken a very prudent approach compared to just about any where else in the world. we are not going to lift them until it is safe to do so, but I think we are heading in that direction at the moment.”