Hundreds of TTG staff in isolation after worker tested positive to Covid-19

Tea Tree Gully council will be running on a skeleton crew, only offering essential maintenance as hundreds of workers are forced into a 14-day quarantine.

Tea Tree Gully Council is urgently seeking extra maintenance staff from other municipalities after hundreds of employees were placed in 14-day quarantine.

Two elected members are also currently in isolation as the council’s Modbury civic centre was deemed a new exposure site on Wednesday night.

In a statement on Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Lucas Jones said hundreds of staff are in isolation after a depot worker tested positive to Covid-19.

The council is now organising staff from other councils to ensure parks and ovals, footpath and road maintenance continues over the next fortnight.

On its Facebook page, the council said “many of its staff” were in isolation and it could only offer waste collection, urgent stormwater and septic tank requests, animal control and the removal of fallen trees.

“Requests and enquiries will be responded to, but there may be delays,” it stated.

Cr Jones said on Tuesday night the council became aware its main offices was considered an exposure site.

“With council’s main offices being declared an exposure site, a reasonable part of our workforce are now in quarantine and have been directed to get tested,” he said.

“We have been working through the night with SA Health to determine the extent of our exposure to the virus and will continue to do so.

“Council is providing essential services only. This will likely continue for the next two weeks.”

He said the council was working with other councils and private contractors to “find ways to continue to support our community”.

It comes as the council’s Modbury civic centre and library were announced as exposure sites.

Anybody who visited the centre on July 10 between 11.30am and 1pm must immediately quarantine for 14 days since they were at the location and get tested immediately.

They must also get tested on days five and 13.

Anybody who visited the library on Saturday, July 17 between midday and 1pm, must get a test as soon as possible and quarantine until they receive a negative test.

Attendees must also get a test on day five and 13 after the last day they were at the library but there is no requirement to quarantine after day five and 13 unless they show symptoms.

SA Health cannot say how many close contacts there are with the depot worker.

EARLIER

Around 400 Tea Tree Gully Council workers have been sent home after a depot worker tested positive to Covid-19.

The 50-year-old man was the third positive case reported in the state yesterday.

He is believed to be a close contact of the 81-year-old man and his daughter who tested positive, with authorities treating it as the highly infectious Delta strain.

SA Health has been contacted for comment regarding the potential number of close contacts that might be Tea Tree Gully Council workers.

On Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Lucas Jones said all council facilities would be deep cleaned as the state goes into a seven-day lockdown from 6pm tonight.

“We’re in the process of having them all cleaned,” Cr Jones said.

“This affects around 400 staff. Several hundred work at the depot.

“All council facilities will be closed until further notice out of an abundance of caution.”

However, he said the council would continue to provide essential services such as emptying residents’ bins and hard waste collection.

Waterworld has also been set up as a temporary testing site.

EARLIER: All Tea Tree Gully Council facilities will close on Tuesday after a staffer tested positive to Covid-19.

In a statement on its website, the council said it was shutting down “out of caution”.

“This will allow us to determine if there is any risk to the community,” the statement read following a high-level meeting on Monday night.

“Our waste collection services will continue to operate uninterrupted.

“We are working closely with SA Health and will reopen when we are advised that it is safe to do so.

“We are committed to keeping our community safe and will update this page regularly.”

Tea Tree Gully Council will close all of its facilities on Tuesday after a staffer tested positive to COVID-19. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt.

Tougher restrictions come into force from midnight after an 81-year-old man and his daughter tested positive to Covid-19 – with authorities treating it as the highly infectious Delta strain.

A third case has now been revealed – a man in his 50s, a close contact of the 81-year-old man and a council staffer, along with a fourth case overnight.

SA recorded five new cases in total on Monday, two from overseas.

More to come.