Covid outbreak: Jay Weatherill sick and SA now has 18 cases in Norwood cluster

Former premier Jay Weatherill has Covid as SA records 18 new cases as a cluster linked to a function in Norwood grows. WA will close its borders to SA on Friday.

The former premier is ill as South Australia records 18 new Covid cases and WA prepares to shut its borders to the state on Friday.

Cases are expected to increase as a cluster linked to an event at Norwood’s Theatre Bugs venue grows.

The Norwood cluster rocketed from two with another 16 confirmed for a total of 18. In addition to these 16 new cases who were all fully vaccinated, two unrelated interstate arrivals tested positive.

The Advertiser requested an interview with Mr Weatherill, who texted the reporter to say he was “too sick” to talk.

WA Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday raised SA’s travel risk to medium, meaning travellers are banned from WA unless they have an exemption.

“Obviously, what’s occurred there is quite concerning,” Mr McGowan said.

“What we’ve done differently to South Australia is we’ve waited to higher levels of vaccination before such time as we lifted our border arrangements and that’s a safety measure to keep people safe to ensure we avoid further lockdowns and social measures, and get the West Australian community through Christmas and through the New Year period.”

Premier Steven Marshall is holding his nerve about opening the borders saying the case numbers so far were at the “lower end” of the modelling.

“The reality is you can’t keep Delta out indefinitely,” he said. “The cases were inevitable, and now we are responding.”

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Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said “as far as Delta is concerned we are on the path we anticipated we would be on” but noted the emergence of the Omicron variant was still a work in progress.

“When you take a step back and have a look at how things are going at the moment, I’d have to say we’re on track and things are playing out as we would have hoped,” he said.

The state has had 31 cases since the borders opened — 27 active — but none are in hospital.

Jay Weatherill is too unwell to speak as he recovers from Covid. Picture: AAP / Julian Smith

A sign on the Theatre Bugs door alerting people to the Covid clusted. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

The Norwood cases are part of a group of about 50 people including former premier Jay Weatherill who attended a Henley High school reunion at the Theatre Bugs premises.

The Advertiser requested an interview with Mr Weatherill who declined saying he is “too sick”.

Owner of the premises Michael Eustice who has tested positive and is in a medi-hotel said he “can confirm that all SA Health requirements were in full met without exception” at the event.

The latest cases are eight men between the ages of 30 and 60 years old and 10 women in their 50s. None are in hospital.

More than 210 close contacts from the Norwood cluster are now in quarantine and that number also is expected to grow.

The source of the infection has not been identified but is believed to be someone from interstate who may have returned interstate.

More exposure sites will be listed on SA Health’s website, however chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said not all sites would be listed, only those where there was a public health issue or if contact tracers had not found all possible contacts.

This includes two unnamed public hospitals where the situation was contained and contact tracing completed.

Prof Spurrier said: “We’ll only be putting up exposure sites on our web, on the internet, if we need the public to look at it and then to respond.

“So in the cases of the hospitals, it was contained, and so we’ve already done the contact tracing so all of those people know that they need to quarantine and we’ve done the testing around it so there’s no need for us to make a public announcement about it.”

Prof Spurrier also urged people not to get their information from social media, noting it may take health officials a while to conduct interviews and their contact tracing work before sending SMS messages to people affected.

She said there had been a risk assessment of contacts in state parliament which resulted in it being allowed to resume, but declined to say how many MPs and staff were considered close contacts.

She stressed that people need to continue to follow safe hygiene practices, from wearing masks in correct settings, to social distancing, washing hands and getting tested if symptoms appear.

“This is not the time to go back to handshaking,” she said.

She also noted SA is now in a transitional phase in dealing with Covid.

“We are moving from an elimination strategy to a suppression strategy, which takes a bit of a mind shift for all of us,” she said.

This was possible due to the high vaccination rate, which means there is no longer the urgency to shut down businesses – as happened with Burnside Village – if a case emerges.

Mr Weatherill’s positive test has sent several prominent South Australians into isolation, including Governor Frances Adamson and Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas.

Mr Malinauskas has described his brief coffee meeting with Mr Weatherill in an outdoor setting as the most expensive coffee he has ever had.

Her Excellency the Governor, the Hon. Frances Adamson in quarantine today after being a close contact to Jay Weatherill. Picture: 7NEWS

Mr Weatherill’s positive test shut down state parliament while contact tracing was under way. However, Mr Marshall said SA Health had advised parliament could now reopen given no positive cases have attended there.

Asked whether the state’s reopening was now at risk, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said authorities were “hopeful we stay on the path we’ve put in place”.

“We do have to watch very closely. We will be checking the credentials of people coming into South Australia either through the airport or by road,” he said.

He welcomed an “uptick” in QR code check ins, praising the public for their co-operation.

New cases and exposure sites prompted a surge in testing, with SA Health warning on Wednesday night that Victoria Park was experiencing “longer than usual waiting times” and suggesting the Ridgehaven and Bedford Park sites as alternatives.

There were 8687 tests carried out Wednesday, partly fuelled by the requirement for arrivals from NSW and Victoria to be tested.

Originally published as Covid outbreak: Jay Weatherill sick and SA now has 18 cases in Norwood cluster