Coronavirus Adelaide: Two new coronavirus cases as Anzac Day parade cancelled
Two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in SA, as the city Anzac Day parade is cancelled and the RSL asks the public not to attend services. It comes as police suspend roadside breath-testing.
SA News
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Two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in SA, a man in his 30s who had recently returned from Germany and a man in his 50s who had travelled to the US and had contact with another case.
It brings South Australia’s total to 32 cases, but not all of them are still in hospital.
Unley High School remains closed after a positive test, after `Scotch College closed yesterday when a student tested positive.
It comes as police suspend roadside breath-testing and the Anzac Day city parade is cancelled.
South Australia’s Anzac Day services will likely be livestreamed into households this year so people can commemorate the day remotely, amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.
The Anzac Day parade in the city has been cancelled while dawn services across the state will continue to go ahead but the public will be banned from attending.
In other developments in SA today:
■ Top doctors lashed the federal governent and chief medical officers over conflicting and confusing messaging about coronavirus testing. Read more here
■ Burnside Council shut down all non-essential services. Read more here
■ Aged-care provider Life Care banned all visitors to residents until further notice
■ SA lawyers lashed out at the justice system’s anti-pandemic measures, saying they’re inconsistent and putting people at risk. Read more here
■ Adelaide Footy League delayed its season until June. Read more here
■ The Festival Centre cancelled its season of School of Rock – The Musical and said it would close all its venues, suspending all performances from midnight Tuesday until April 30. Read more here
Just ducked down to the supermarket to get milk. Glad I didn't need meat, rice, pasta, toilet paper, soap, handee towel, cake mix, flour, sugar - or kitty litter @theTiser # pic.twitter.com/yThON2aH0e
— Col James (@ColinJamesTiser) March 17, 2020
■ Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival organisers say they will run races without spectators. Read more here
■ About a dozen CFS brigades cancelled their weekly training sessions until further notice, while others will run limited exercises.
Police suspend roadside breath-testing
Random breath testing stations will be suspended by South Australian police because of the coronavirus.
The move follows similar measures introduced interstate, where police are now relying on mobile patrols to catch drivers affected by alcohol and drugs.
The officer in charge of traffic policing, Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott, said the priority was to balance road safety with the health risks associated with COVID-19 for police officers and the broader community.
“Mobile random breath testing will continue to be used as a legitimate and safe method to continue to enforce road safety and provide our operational members with the confidence to do so,” he said.
Anzac Day parades cancelled
RSL SA issued a statement this morning, saying it made the call to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
It confirmed the city Anzac Day march, the Youth Vigil on Anzac Day eve and the service at the Cross of Sacrifice and Anzac on Torrens have been called off.
“This decision has not been taken lightly as this is a significant event on the nation’s calendar,” the statement read.
“It is in the best interest and wellbeing of our ageing veterans and the community at large.”
It went on to stress that Anzac Day “and all that it means to Australia is not less important this year”.
“There will be a Dawn Service at the State Memorial however, the public will be asked not to attend,” it read.
“It will consist of official guests only and modified to COVID19 risk.”
The RSL is working on “how we best communicate the Dawn Service from the State Memorial”.
“Further details will be given when known,” the statement read.
“We lose a chance to pay our due respect and acknowledge the great contribution servicemen and women have made.
“We will always remember the dedication, commitment and sacrifice of our Defence Forces, past and present.”
RSL SA/NT state president Cheryl Cates told The Advertiser the decision was made last night and RSL subbranches were informed at the time.
“It is really disappointing,” she said.
Ms Cates said the RSL was considering live-streaming the services “whether it will be via social media, website or a live broadcast” so people could watch at home.
She said planning for next year’s Anzac Day would begin in October.
“We can just plan to do the best that we can next year,” she said.
“Nothing will ever replace what we lost this year but we can all remember in our own way.”
As The Advertiser reported on Thursday, the RSL had been putting contingencies in place since last week in case the April 25 commemorations needed to be called off.
There are more than 80 dawn services across SA, attracting thousands of people.
At the time, RSL SA chief executive officer David Grenvold said it would be a “great pity” if Anzac Day events were cancelled.
“It’s a significant event in the nation’s calendar so (if it was cancelled) we lose a chance to pay (our) due respect and acknowledge the great contribution (servicemen and women have made),” he said.
It comes as the number of South Australian coronavirus cases spiked on Monday night, forcing two Adelaide schools into lockdown and a university to shut off its lectures.
At least 10 new cases emerged in a few hours, including a 12-year-old female Scotch College student and a female Unley High School teacher also tested positive for the virus.
Premier Steven Marshall said the decision to cancel Anzac Day services was disappointing but was necessary.
“This is a decision made with big regret as we know it is an important commemoration for the people that served our nation. And it will be with much disappointment for the people of South Australia that the dawn services for 2020 will only go forward in a modified way, with public not permitted to attend,” Mr Marshall said.
“We will have the dawn service for Anzac Day at the National War Memorial on North Tce. We will also have dawn services at individual sub branches who would like to put one on – but these will be open to members of that sub branch only. We ask members of the public to respect this.”
He said the number one priority was the healthy safety and wellbeing of veterans “who are often in a more vulnerable cohort the rest of the public”.
“This was a very tough decision for the RSL to make but we support it,” he said.
“The decision was made together but the proposal was made by RSL.”
Temperatures checked at Pooraka markets
Handheld thermal temperature guns are helping ensure workers at one of South Australia’s leading food depots are not being exposed to COVID-19.
The SA Produce Market at Pooraka is testing any visitor suspected of a body temperature above 38 degrees, a potential indicator of the virus.
Visitors, including transport workers and tradies, are asked to complete a form to say if they have been in contact with anyone who has been overseas. Anyone deemed at risk is scanned immediately.
“It’s zero tolerance, this is all about health and food and we will keep putting out our fresh products,” chief executive officer Angelo Demasi said. About 1000 people work at the market.
Arts events cancelled
The Adelaide Festival Centre has cancelled its season of School of Rock – The Musical and will close all its venues, suspending all performances from midnight Tuesday until April 30.
It’s among a slew of SA arts performances cancelled or postponed as venues shut their doors.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, which had already postponed its Ben Folds and Come and Play concerts this week, has said it is planning to stream or broadcast its Natsuko Plays Brahms concerts scheduled for April 3 and 4, which will no longer be public events but performed without a live audience.
Masters Games, amateur soccer postponed
Tatiara District Council has voted to cancel the 2020 Tatiara Masters Games, citing risks to the community’s, participants and visitors health and wellbeing.
The multi-sport event was scheduled to be held from April 16 to April 20 and attract around 1000 competitors to the region, as well as Winter Olympics gold medallist Steven Bradbury.
Bradbury was recently announced as the master of ceremonies for the closing ceremony event.
In a statement, Tatiara council said it was disappointed to cancel the event, but it was the safest option for everyone involved.
Council said it will work with Sports SA and our community regarding the possibility of hosting the 2022 South Australian Masters Games in Tatiara.
The South Australian Amateur Soccer League (SAASL) Board is also suspending all scheduled fixtures – Templin Cup, Challenge Cup, Reserves Cup and trial matches, and clubs must not train for a period of 14 days.
Pressure mounts for Australia to go into immediate ‘lockdown’
One of South Australia’s most respected medicos believes Australia needs to go into lockdown immediately and people should self-isolate in a bid to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.
Dr Bill Griggs, the former head of Royal Adelaide Hospital trauma services, said it is “inevitable” that Australia will have to go into lockdown, as countries such as Italy and France have done to combat the virus.
“I think that seems to be inevitable, I had hoped it might not be but that seems to be the only way of stopping it,” he said.
“I think we need to go into lockdown right now.
“It still may not stop it, we still may end up getting it through 70 per cent of the population. Even if only one per cent of those die, that is a lot of people. The countries that have locked down wished they had done it sooner.”
Dr Griggs, who was a member of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, said people should not attend mass gatherings at all, they should self-isolate and work from home if possible to minimise risk.
“When you try and stop it as Italy is trying to do, you have to accept it is going to be a number of weeks before case numbers stop continuing to rise,” he said.
“From memory they had about 100 cases when we had 50 back in late February and they just went ballistic in two weeks.
“Here we have had a big jump in the past 24 hours.
“I think there is every chance that most of the countries on the planet are heading that way.”
He said it was encouraging that China appears to have slowed the spread with social isolation and stopping the movement of people.
“That is what is quite important to us. The issue is it is reasonably contagious, you don’t know who might have got it, just because someone is a friend or a mate does not mean that may not have it,” he said.
Dr Griggs said a good example was the original SARS epidemic and how it spread across the world so rapidly.
“It spread because one doctor from China went to Hong Kong, got into a lift in a hotel and seven others in the lift took the bug around the world,” he said.
“That is as simple as it potentially can be. You don’t want that one event to happen but once there are so many of those events happening it becomes almost impossible to stop it.
“The social isolation stuff works, but people and governments are reluctant to do it because there is enormous cost, both personal and financial ... but it is becoming more and more obvious that is what needs to happen.”
An open letter from Australian doctors to the Federal Government is calling for an immediate lockdown.