Premier says waiting 12 or 24 more hours to start SA lockdown could have led to ‘all sorts of trouble’

Premier Steven Marshall is cautiously optimistic about the lockdown ending after seven days – but says waiting could have been catastrophic.

Hopes of South Australia’s seven-day lockdown ending as scheduled have been raised again by Premier Steven Marshall, despite Covid-19 case numbers surging on Wednesday.

By partial contrast, chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier is warning of “superspreader” events at a popular winery and city restaurant, while declaring “it is very difficult to say” whether the lockdown will be extended.

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Mr Marshall’s optimism is understood to have been bolstered by just two new cases announced at the daily press conference scheduled for 11am.

It follows his enthusiasm on Wednesday morning, before the outbreak doubled that afternoon, that it could be nipped in the bud.

There has been no serious escalation of the outbreak that triggered the seven-day lockdown, which started at 6pm on Tuesday.

Thus far, 14 cases linked to the so-called Modbury cluster have been announced, with two more revealed on Thursday – a brother and a sister in their 20s, linked to the winery.

Mr Marshall is using both the doubling of cases on Tuesday, when six cases were announced late in the afternoon, and the lack of escalation to underpin the argument for going hard and early with a full state lockdown.

Indirectly, he is contrasting this with the approach of his NSW Liberal counterpart, Gladys Berejiklian, who has been criticised for an indecisive approach resulting in soaring daily new case numbers that have exceeded 100 in four of the past five days.

By repeatedly expressing optimism, Mr Marshall is trying to buoy the public mood and galvanise people for the days ahead. In doing this, he also is taking the risk of dashing hopes if case numbers subsequently surge.

“I’m still very hopeful that we have done … all the work necessary to eliminate this in seven days. I mean, the reality is I am so grateful that we went early. I think if we left this for another 12 hours or 24 hours, I think we would be in all sorts of trouble,” Mr Marshall told ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday morning.

Premier Steven Marshall at the Wednesday afternoon Covid update press conference announcing SA has recorded six new cases of COVID-19 as the statewide lockdown continued. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

More than 5000 South Australians were in directed quarantine, supervised by police, Mr Marshall said, drawing a contrast with NSW, where there were about 10,000 people in quarantine.

The number was comparatively lower in the larger state of NSW, he said, because SA put close contacts of close contacts of infected people into quarantine.

“That’s where you get a situation where, ultimately, you get a new infection but they’ve already been in quarantine – not out and about infecting people, like we’re seeing in other parts of the world, other parts of the country at the moment,” Mr Marshall said

“I’m still hugely optimistic that by going hard and going early, we can nip this in the bud, we can stop this dead in its tracks and that’s what we’re working towards at the moment.”

Professor Nicola Spurrier speaks at the Wednesday afternoon Covid update press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

But Professor Spurrier, whose health advice Mr Marshall follows, has adopted a much more cautious approach.

Asked at the Wednesday afternoon press conference announcing the six new cases whether the lockdown was likely to be extended beyond seven days, Professor Spurrier said: “Look, it is very difficult to say. We did our lockdown very early, so my expectation is that if we’re getting new cases, at some point in the future, there won’t have been an opportunity for exposure.

“This is why I’m saying to everybody: `You just don’t know whether you could have come in contact with somebody’. This is the reason to stay home.”

Originally published as Premier says waiting 12 or 24 more hours to start SA lockdown could have led to ‘all sorts of trouble’