SA Covid hospitalisation figure hits five-week high
Two more people have died with Covid-19 in South Australia as the number of people in hospital grows to its highest level in more than a month.
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South Australia has recorded a new spike in Covid-19 patients being admitted to hospital despite falling numbers of cases.
SA Health on Saturday reported 184 patients were being treated in hospitals, which was 15 more than Friday’s total.
It is the highest number of hospital cases in more than five weeks.
Authorities say there is a lag in hospital data of between 10 days and a fortnight from infection.
SA Health reported 4,483 cases on Saturday, which was 651 fewer than Friday.
It is the first time the state has recorded fewer than 5000 daily cases since Wednesday.
Intensive care rates are also stable with eight people in ICU.
Authorities relaxed close contact rules a week ago, a fortnight after Police Commissioner Grant Stevens eased almost all other restrictions for density, home gathering caps, singing, dancing and drinking in licensed venues.
Friday, April 1
A South Australian child under the age of five has died after being diagnosed with Covid.
Professor Nicola Spurrier announced that the child was among two deaths in SA reported on Friday. The other was a woman in her 80s.
Prof Spurrier said the child had other, severe health problems and was on a palliative care pathway but because they tested positive for Covid, they would be counted as a Covid death.
“When you have underlying health problems, it does make you more susceptible,” she said.
“What we can do as a community is we can get ourselves vaccinated.
“It does not only protect us but it protects those people who are vulnerable in our community – unfortunately the child was too young to have been vaccinated.”
Prof Spurrier, who sent her condolences to the families, said the child was infected outside the hospital and tested positive upon arrival at the Emergency Department.
She said the child’s family, like many families of children with underlying health conditions, were fully vaccinated.
She would not reveal why the child required palliative care, or the exact age or gender of the child.
The state recorded 5134 new cases on Friday – 3546 by PCR and 1588 by RAT.
There are now 33,380 active cases in SA.
There are 169 people in hospital, seven in ICU and nobody is currently being ventilated.
Prof Spurrier said hospitalisations rates “fit within” the modelling, but hospitals were still under pressure with ill and quarantining staff.
She announced that were no plans to lift vaccine mandates for health workers, following changes for education works and police officers in the past month.
Prof Spurrier said with high case rates, it was a good time to remind people to ensure they wear a mask when socialising indoors and get tested if symptoms appear.
“If you have any symptoms at all, please go and get tested as there are other colds beginning to go around.
“If you have symptoms, even if you are a desperate Port or Crows fan, give your tickets (to tonight’s Showdown) to somebody else and watch it from home.”
Prof Spurrier said around 57 per cent of children aged 5-12 were vaccinated, which was better than other states but could be higher.
Replay the Covid press conference
Thursday, March 31
Premier Peter Malinauskas has primed 100 hospital beds around South Australia for an expected Covid-19 case number surge, as 5061 new cases are reported.
Mr Malinauskas announced that among the 100 beds, 24 have been allocated to the Royal Adelaide Hospital Intensive Care Unit and have been placed on standby, as new modelling revealed case numbers will peak in early April.
The modelling showed that cases will peak in the first week of April to more than 7000 a day if current restrictions remain.
“We want to make sure that as many beds as possible are being put online to acknowledge the surge in demand that is still likely to come our way,” Mr Malinauskas said on Thursday.
He said the government is “doing everything we can” to accommodate a rise in cases.
The 100 beds will be split across “basically every hospital” in SA, Mr Malinauskas said.
Mr Malinauskas said 10 beds at private hospitals could also be made available.
“There is urgency here and the government is acting accordingly,” he said.
“Everything that can being done is being done, there is no expense being spared.”
Thursday also saw no new Covid deaths.
There are 32,156 active Covid cases in the state, and 175 people in hospital. Eight are in ICU and one is on a ventilator.
Of those hospitalised, 120 are fully vaccinated, 45 are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 10 are unknown.
Mr Malinauskas said last week he would like to see SA’s mask mandate scrapped from April 14 – days after the expected caseload peak.
Wednesday, March 30
Covid case numbers have soared with 5496 new cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours. Commissioner Grants Stevens, chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier and Education Department CEO Rick Persse have also announced teacher mandates have been scrapped in a press conference.
Wednesday’s daily numbers are second only to the record 5679 positive cases on January 14.
The scrapping of the mandates come amid teacher worker shortages.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said “while the numbers are high in terms of daily numbers they are not outside what the predictions are”.
You can watch it here:
“The key issue for us is hospitalisation rates and they are within predicted limits as well.”
“The mandate under emergency management act was put in place so we could get staff vaccinated as quickly as possible and that has happened.
“The requirement is to be vaccinated but if you are not vaccinated there are other requirements you have to fulfil.”
Education Department CEO Rick Persse reiterated teachers who return to work who are not vaccinated will have to take a daily RAT test and wear a mask at all times.
“The education department has 31,215 staff and about 204 chose not to get vaccinated so the vast majority have been vaccinated,” he said.
“They (unvaccinated staff) will not be allowed to work in remote Aboriginal schools or special schools or if they work very closely with immunocompromised students.”
He said Adelaide High and Wirreanda High School are closed, Paralowie went to remote learning but is now back and Roxby Downs is on remote learning.
Prof Spurrier denied it was a scrapping of mandates despite conceding that unvaccinated teachers and transport workers – bus, train, tram and uber and taxi drivers – may now go back to work from midnight tonight with conditions.
“We are not scrapping the mandates, but replacing it with a CEO directive,” she said.
“It doesn’t undermine the message to parents.
“We are using different risk mitigation.
“But the emergency management declaration is not going to be there forever so we are moving to different ways of managing this.”
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
SA Health announced two more Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours. There are 5496 new cases today – 3636 from PCR tests and 1870 detected from RAT tests.
here are 180 people in hospital and eight in ICU – one on a ventilator.
Of the deaths, one is a man in his 70s, the other a woman in her 80s.
“If you have got the infection rest and stay in bed and drink plenty of water,” Professor Nicola Spurrier said on Wednesday.
“We do expect the numbers to continue to rise.
“We do need to transition away from Emergency Management Declaration which has been in place for longer than any other emergency.”
There are currently 31,449 active cases in South Australia.
Of the new cases, 60 per cent are the new BA. 2 variant.
On Tuesday, 16,434 people received a PCR test in South Australia, which is a 3 per cent increase on the previous 24 hours.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
SA Health announced another death and a further 4201 new Covid cases on Tuesday.
A woman in her 80s who tested positive for Covid has died and there are now 170 people in hospital, including seven people in ICU. Two people are on a ventilator.
Of those hospitalised, 123 are fully vaccinated, 31 are either partially or unvaccinated and 16 have an unknown vaccination status.
The total number of people with Covid in SA is 30,767. To date, 257 people have died with Covid.
Monday, March 28, 2022
Three more people with Covid have died – a man and woman in their 80s and a man in his 70s.
South Australia has recorded 4140 new cases, bringing the state’s total number of active cases to 30,820.
There are 181 people in hospital including seven in ICU. Two people are on a ventilator.
Of those in hospital, 132 are fully vaccinated, 38 unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 11 have an unknown status.
On Sunday, 3815 new cases were reported, and there were 158 people in hospital, six in ICU.
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