SA’s Omicron Covid numbers spike past 1000 a day, non-urgent elective surgery cancelled

South Australia has recorded 1472 new cases of Covid – by far the highest increase on record – and elective surgery will be cut to ease the load on hospitals.

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South Australia recorded 1472 new cases of Covid on Wednesday – the first time the daily figure has exceeded 1000.

But the number of people in hospital has remained steady at 37, and the number in intensive care dropped by one to four.

Responding to what he described as a “significant increase” in cases, Premier Steven Marshall announced elective surgeries will be limited to only category one and urgent category two surgeries, to ease the load on our hospitals.

He also said South Australia will no longer conduct pre-departure PCR testing for other states. That will include Queensland, where a requirement that travellers test negative within 72 hours of arrival will not be removed until January 1.

“We just simply need to dedicate all of the testing capability that we have to those people that have symptoms and those people that are close contacts,” Mr Marshall said.

Police later tweeted that people should only attend testing stations if they had symptoms of Covid or were a close contact of someone with the virus. People lining up to get a pre-travel test would not be tested, they said.

Mr Marshall also said it’s “very likely” the third booster jab will become mandatory for frontline health workers, as well as disability and aged care workers. They’ll have to get the jab within two weeks of becoming eligible.

He urged South Australians to take calls to work from home where possible “very seriously”. Based on the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, that position will likely remain in place until at least the end of January.

Cases are also spiking to unprecedented levels in the eastern states, with 11,201 cases and three deaths in NSW, and 3767 cases and five deaths in Victoria.

As pressure on the SA’s testing system intensifies, Mr Marshall ruled out distributing free rapid antigen tests.

Victorian authorities have secured an order of 34 million of the tests and say they will be free and made widely available.

“I’ve received no advice whatsoever that that’s what we should be doing in South Australia,” Mr Marshall said. “There is a real worry of people using these incorrectly so we will listen to the public health advice.”

Meanwhile, SA’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier has pleaded with South Australians to stay home for New Year’s Eve.

“I want this to be the absolute quietest New Year’s Eve everybody has ever had, you can still make a bit of noise by yourself,” Professor Spurrier said.

“You can meet up with people on Zoom or Teams meeting and celebrate that way, but we really do not want to have lots of people getting together during that New Year’s Eve period because again, it will trigger a whole lot of those super-spreading events.”

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■ Up to 6 million extra rapid Covid tests – but not for the public
■ Spurrier savaged for call to stay home on New Year’s Eve
■ Elective surgery off as hospital crisis looms
■ Wedding industry: ‘We can’t pay our staff’
■ Omicron could be 80 per cent less severe
■ Alleged Covid clubber arrested, charged and named for the first time
■ Beyond stretched: Fitness industry begs for help
■ ‘Not viable’: Devastated hospitality industry reacts to restrictions
■ Exposure lists, Covid interviews scrapped by SA Health
■ Your Omicron questions answered
■ Premier: ‘Omicron doesn’t care about your vaccine hesitancy’
■ How SA got its reopening Covid modelling so wrong

TUESDAY UPDATE: DECEMBER 28

There are now 36 people in hospital with Covid, as 995 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday. Of the 36 people in hospital, three are young children.

Three more are aged between 10 and 19, two people in their 20s, five in their 30s, two in their 40s, six in their 50s, six in their 60s, four in their 70s, one in their 80s, and four in their 90s.

Five people are now in the ICU, including one man in his 30s on a ventilator.

It comes as the 19-year-old who allegedly stayed out nightclubbing while infectious with Covid has been arrested, charged and named for the first time.

Today’s cases include 84 children, 66 teenagers, 449 women and 396 men – including a 105-year-old woman.

There were 20,052 tests carried out in the past 24 hours.

Of these, 91 cases acquired their infection in South Australia and are known contacts of a positive case, 3 cases acquired their infection in SA but with the contact unknown, 8 cases acquired their infection interstate, and 893 cases are under investigation.

Of the hospitalised cases, 14 people are fully vaccinated, and 10 are either partially vaccinated or unvaccinated and in 12 cases the vaccination status is unknown.

It comes as public hospital staff are also pleading with people not to take out their frustration on frontline workers, as visitors are now banned unless in exceptional circumstances.

The 36ers game was also cancelled after a team member tested positive.

There have been 6160 cases since the pandemic started – including 5238 since borders opened on November 23.

Five people have died including a 94-year-old woman yesterday.

People queuing at the Wayville Showground vax clinic on Tuesday, December 28. Picture: Emma Brasier

MONDAY UPDATE: DECEMBER 27

The state hit 842 new Covid cases on Monday as a 94-year-old woman with the infection died in hospital.

Twenty-three people were in hospital on Monday – four are in ICU, including a man in his 30s on a ventilator.

Monday’s cases included 63 children, 49 teenagers, 362 women and 368 men.

The 94-year-old woman, from Adelaide is the fifth South Australian who had tested positive to Covid to die since the pandemic started.

SA Health said she tested positive before her death on Sunday. Another woman aged 100 also had contracted the virus.

“The woman acquired Covid-19 in South Australia, but the cause of death is currently being determined,” SA Health said on Monday.

It comes as tough restrictions were reintroduced leaving the hospitality industry reeling.

Of Monday’s cases, 513 were vaccinated, 117 unvaccinated and in 212 cases the vaccination status is unknown.