South Australia closes borders to WA hot spots

More than a dozen West Australian arrivals are in Adelaide hotel quarantine after they visited Perth COVID-19 hotpots, as no new community transmission emerged.

At least 15 West Australian arrivals are in Adelaide hotel quarantine after they visited Perth COVID-19 hotpots.

SA Health yesterday contacted almost 4000 more travellers who had arrived by plane from WA between Saturday, April 17, and Friday, April 24.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens banned WA arrivals from Perth and the south coast Peel region from 12.01am on Saturday amid those areas’ three-day lockdown imposed on Friday.

Contact tracers, who accessed flight manifests and Adelaide Airport QR code data, have tracked 8826 total travellers and asked if any visited seven high-risk WA sites and another 22 exposure areas.

Any such visitor must serve a fortnight in quarantine. SA Health last night ordered 15 people into medi-hotel quarantine as officials launched risk assessments.

Despite no community cases emerging yesterday, WA Premier Mark McGowan warned restrictions could continue after midnight tonight.

The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan on Sunday. NCA NewsWire / Tony McDonough

Unless “something extraordinary happens”, SA officials said WA border changes were unlikely before Tuesday’s transition committee meeting when Mr Stevens will receive the latest health advice as state co-ordinator.

SA Health on Sunday recorded a “young boy” as the state’s 705th case. He is linked to an unidentified patient in the Tom’s Court medi-hotel.

There are 23 infectious patients in stable conditions in the CBD facility.

A woman, 21, is stable in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

SA Health data shows 38 arrivals returned positive tests in medi-hotels over the past fortnight. At least 12 arrived from crisis-hit India, a trio from Turkey and three from Pakistan.

A total 40 sick travellers have come from India, the second biggest group behind 73 ill UK arrivals.

URGENT WORK TO TRACE 5000 WA TRAVELLERS

Thousands of West Australian travellers are being urgently traced after the state’s borders were clamped down amid a deepening Perth coronavirus crisis.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens banned WA arrivals from Perth and the south coast Peel region from 12.01am on Saturday after local authorities ordered a three-day lockdown.

SA authorities are scrambling to track more than 5000 travellers who arrived by plane from WA since last Saturday, April 17 as a second Perth community transmission case emerged.

SA Health also on Saturday said a traveller, aged in his 40s, was discharged home from the Royal Adelaide Hospital after three weeks.

He had spent 18 days in its intensive care unit and was the unit’s first patient in 10 months.

There is just one COVID patient remaining in hospital.

SA Health also reported an ill child as a new case, who was linked to a previous patient in the CBD’s Tom’s Court COVID facility.

WA travellers who arrived before Saturday must immediately take a COVID-19 test and isolate before a negative result.

SA Health testing sites have reduced long weekend hours. Contact tracers asked if travellers visited almost 20 high-risk sites. Anyone who visited the exposure areas must serve a fortnight in quarantine.

An official is seen handing out masks, which became mandatory in WA after the Premier announced a three-day lockdown Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images.

Mr Stevens, who is state COVID co-ordinator, signed new legal directions at 11.07pm on Friday night, banning arrivals from “high-risk” spots such as residential aged care, jails or hospital facilities and venues approved for more than 1000 people for 14 days.

Only SA residents, essential workers, those fleeing domestic violence and people relocating can cross but they must quarantine for 14 days.

The country’s top medical emergency panel, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee held crisis talks on Saturday.

But senior state government sources said it was a “bit of a waiting game” to gauge how WA authorities “go with the lockdown”.

WA Premier Mark McGowan called the snap shutdown after a traveller spent up to five days in the Perth community after falling ill at the Mercure medi-hotel.

WA Health has reported a second community case – a man in his 40s – who visited a south Perth Malaysian restaurant, the Kitchen Inn, between midday and 2pm on Sunday, April 18 when a Kardinya woman and her ill Melbourne friend also ate there.

The friend, 54, arrived in Perth from Shanghai, China, on April 3 and left quarantine on April 17, after testing negative on his day 12 test. The pair visited various sites including restaurants, a swimming pool, university and shopping centres before he flew to Melbourne on Wednesday. The receptionist went to work at a dental clinic while infectious.

Deputy chief public health officer, Dr Mike Cusack, said officials would monitor “over coming days”.

“Anyone who has been in Perth or Peel region since 17 April and has visited any of the exposure sites are strongly encouraged to visit www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/covidcontacttracing and complete the form,” he said.

“(On Saturday) afternoon SMS text messages were sent to approximately 5,000 people who have identified as having travelled from WA to SA by plane since 17 April.

“The SMS asks people to complete a form to further determine who may have been in a WA exposure site.

“SA Health will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Western Australia over coming days.”

Victoria has also closed its borders to visitors from Perth after an infected passenger landed at Melbourne Airport.

The man contracted the virus at a quarantine hotel in Perth after visiting China, then flew to Melbourne unaware he was infected.

Perth and Peel, about 75km south of the WA capital, were sent into a three-day lockdown on Friday night after it was revealed the infected man had been moving around Perth for four days.

The lockdown has forced the cancellation of Anzac Day marches and Dawn Services in the WA restricted zones. The AFL has also been thrown into disarray.