Calls for virus tests at every Vic/SA border checkpoint as Thebarton Senior and Roma Mitchell Secondary colleges close
Labor is calling for mandatory COVID-19 testing at every border crossing between Victoria and SA, after two more virus cases on Sunday forced two Adelaide schools to close for deep cleaning.
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Mandatory coronavirus testing should be enforced at every border crossing between Victoria and South Australia, the Opposition says.
Labor is calling for the new measure following SA’s latest COVID-19 cases, which highlighted that quarantine rules are not being followed by every traveller entering the state from Victoria.
A teenager, who was among two new confirmed infections announced on Sunday, arrived in Adelaide from Victoria on July 26 but did not get tested until five days later, despite being required to undergo a test within 24 hours of arriving in the state.
Labor health spokesman Chris Picton said almost 1000 people had been found to be “non-compliant” with quarantine orders during SA Police visits since the “hard border” came into effect on July 8.
He said Labor is calling for a “no test, no entry” policy to be implemented.
“With the disaster outbreak across our border in Victoria – why are we letting people on trust get away with no test for five days when they enter our state?” Mr Picton said.
“At every crossing, every person and every vehicle must be checked for validity of entry and COVID tested at the same time.”
Health Minister Stephen Wade said the girl, who returned home from Melbourne on Jetstar flight JQ774, was only tested when police visited her home.
“She was supposed to get tested on Monday, July 27th. She was tested on Friday,” he told ABC Radio.
“To be clear, she was self-isolating the whole time. She failed to take the day one test, she was followed up and she had the test done.”
Mr Wade said he was unaware if the girl had been fined.
“Fines are appropriate in a lot of circumstances. One thing I don’t want to happen is somebody for some reason can’t do (a test) on day one, and won’t go on day two because they’re fearing a fine,” he said.
Mr Wade said about 17 people had been caught failing to comply with COVID-19 directions after 570 police checks the past 24 hours.
40 students to self-isolate after COVID case
The positive case was the second to be recorded in SA on Sunday.
About 40 students have been forced into isolation after they came into close contact with a woman infected with COVID-19, prompting the closure of two schools .
The adult student, in her 20s, attended both Thebarton Senior and Roma Mitchell Secondary colleges while infectious.
At Roma Mitchell College, in Gepps Cross, she participated in an after-hours education program.
Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said the woman – a known contact of an existing patient in SA – will isolate at a medi-hotel but that there’s “some potential” of community transmission.
Both schools will stay closed for at least a day and a large-scale contact tracing effort is under way, while the campuses are deep-cleaned.
The latest cases have revived fears community-based transmissions will gather momentum in SA.
Prof Spurrier said: “Anybody who attended the schools and develops symptoms will need to isolate and get tested.”
SCHOOL CLOSURE: Thebarton Senior College to close Monday 3 August. Student diagnosed with COVID-19. Public health officials are carrying out contact tracing. Parents and students are being informed.
— Dept for Education (@edu_sagov) August 2, 2020
More information can be found here: https://t.co/GyoGAo6YaO pic.twitter.com/XZFRUillWN
There have now been six COVID-19 cases in the past week in SA.
“We are really in a tenuous position at the moment with the number of active cases in South Australia,” Prof Spurrier said.
“We do not want to get anywhere near the level of community transmission … they are seeing in Victoria.”
Education Minister John Gardner said deep cleaning at the two schools could take up to two days.
He said while it was a “challenging” incident, South Australians could “take comfort” from the success of similar incidents at schools earlier in the year when schools were cleaned and reopened without further contagion.
Prof Spurrier said the teenage girl on the Jetstar flight from Melbourne “did the right thing” by going into quarantine after arriving from Melbourne.
“The teenager hadn’t had the test done – I don’t know she might have been a little bit scared about getting it done,” she said.
“She is a young person and we’ve been able to get a detailed history from her and through family members.
“We think the chances of her being infectious in South Australia are very, very low, but because we want to be absolutely certain in this case, we are going to continue having her in isolation.”
The girl had first developed respiratory symptoms on July 15, meaning the infectious period would have ended before coming into SA.
Seven close family contacts of the girl have been identified so far, with their tests coming back negative.
Other possible close contacts on flight JQ774 are being told about the case.
Mr Wade said the state’s COVID-19 hotline crashed on Sunday morning.
“I don’t have any details as to the reason but we do regret the fact our information line was down for a couple of hours,” Mr Wade said.
“We are very keen to maintain a reliable source of information for South Australians – we certainly did everything we could to get it up as quick as possible.”
Mr Wade also revealed the government is considering a new set of restrictions for aged care after a positive coronavirus case was linked to two nursing homes at the weekend.
“Plans are being developed for a whole range of high-risk environments,” he said.
COVID-19 cases climb in Victoria, NSW
Meanwhile interstate, coronavirus cases in NSW have grown overnight as Victoria prepares to report 429 new infections.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce more changes to businesses, with supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations the only retail to be allowed to keep trading in Melbourne and key regional areas in Victoria, with a possible exception carved out for hardware stores, which could stay open for tradies only.
Supermarket giant Coles announced it will shut its Melbourne stores at 7.45pm for at least the next six weeks.
In NSW, there have been 13 new cases of coronavirus, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian calls for residents to be on “extra high alert”.
Don’t lose hope, says Spurrier
The coronavirus pandemic is causing South Australia’s youth to live without hope amid fears future generations will battle chronic unemployment and financial insecurity, the state’s top public health doctor warns.
In an exclusive interview, chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, said one of her major concerns was how the COVID-19 crisis was “impacting young people”.
Prof Spurrier, a paediatrician and mother of three, said it was important to provide “that sense of hope that things will go back to normal, they can do the things that they like doing … can be planning to have a job, buy a house some day and not (be) impacted”.