Daniel Wills: SA leading the pack on the road back to normal as PM, Premier Steven Marshall announce plan to lift lockdowns

ANALYSIS: It’s not time to pop the champagne, but put it on ice as SA leads the pack on the road back to normal. But as we open up, one cherished freedom is firmly off the table for a while.

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Asked on his way out of Friday’s faintly celebratory press conference if we could all just go to the pub now, Premier Steven Marshall said with a Cheshire grin: “No, no glass of champagne. Sorry about that”.

But you can just about smell it, as SA gets moving on easing restrictions that have been in place for what feel like the longest seven weeks our lives.

SA has been in its own little island this whole time, benefiting from both its distance from the big cities on the east coast and an unarguably excellent testing and tracing response by staff at SA Health.

It means while some in the eastern states are popping corks about soon being able to meet in groups of up to 10 people, opening playgrounds and encouraging students to get back to school we’re shrugging our shoulders and asking what the fuss is all about.

In SA, we either never had those restrictions in place or have already flagged they are being lifted.

The big new moves announced here are in areas that other states are unlikely to reach for a while.

If things keep going to plan, SA will be among the first to restart competitive sport and gyms as soon as next month.

After that, there’s the chance of nightclubs, international students and larger gatherings getting going again with restrictions.

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Then a well-earned glass of champagne is on the table.

With such a low number of active cases - as of Friday just two people - SA could soon stumble itself into full eradication.

At that point, the medical reason for many of the restrictions just evaporates.

But the one that will take the longest to come back is travel, both interstate and overseas. Those bans have been the key to keeping SA in its protective cocoon and worst of the crisis out of our community.

If the drawbridge comes down, risk goes way up.

So try to enjoy it.

We’ve done our own thing this whole way through, and it’s got us to the great place we’re now in.

Just weeks ago we feared hospitals and morgues would be overwhelmed.

Now we’re thinking about happy hour.