A handful of mask-clad people straggle past displays of Christmas trees, oversized decorations and presents, most lugging backpacks as they shuttle to essential work.

Schmaltzy piped music drifts across the barren pavements. “Wake up! Wake up! You know that it’s Christmas morning”, croons American singer Matt Wertz.

It’s 9am on Thursday, November 19. Just as Rundle Mall should be waking up for Christmas trading, it’s the first day of a statewide shutdown.

There were similar scenes across the city.

Adelaide’s usually packed metropolitan beaches were virtually deserted, despite today’s forecast top of 36C. Heat is shimmering from the empty pavement. Stifled air from the soon-to-be-mandatory mask adds to the discomfort.

Only supermarkets are open but even in those, there’s only a few shoppers. Three pallets of toilet paper partially block an aisle in Rundle Place Coles, waiting to be stacked on shelves stripped by swarms of desperate shoppers in the past few days, as anxiety about the outbreak intensified.

Once again, almost everyone is wearing masks, even if some seem to have missed the advice that it’s necessary to fit them over the nose. Some of Adelaide’s vulnerable, though, have again been left bereft – maskless and abandoned to the streets.

Adelaide’s CBD is on tenterhooks too. People are complying, mostly, with the tough restrictions yet the Christmas cheer is gone. Instead, people are just waiting, hoping that active coronavirus case numbers will get back to zero, the lockdown will be lifted and the state can get back to a cheery, comfortable new COVID-safe normal.