No new SA cases but 99 in quarantine linked to Covid-positive NSW truckies

There are no new Covid cases in SA but authorities say they are still trying to find dozens of people who they fear have been in contact with two infectious travellers.

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At least two dozen people feared as contacts of two infectious truckies have yet to be found as authorities scramble to contain any potential Covid-19 cases.

More than 140 people have been forced into quarantine after visiting 14 exposure sites the truckies visited in the past 10 days, three quarters of whom have returned a negative test.

But contact tracers were still hunting at least 24 people last night who are believed to be contacts of the pair, aged 23 and 29, up from 16 earlier in the day.

The truckies, who were in the one lorry, made two trips across the state, creating exposure sites in Port Augusta, Ceduna and Nundroo.

SA Health and WA authorities reported no new cases on Monday. A WA Health spokesman said all 24 contacts have returned negative tests.

A WA Health spokesman said all 24 contacts have returned negative tests.

Chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, who expressed frustration about the poor QR code compliance, flagged a new crackdown on Monday.

She told Five AA Breakfast radio the truckies, who had at least one Pfizer vaccine and worse masks, stopped at another SA truckstop but had no contact with any locals.

“Well, I do think there is some luck and I think there is some good management,” she told the program.

“I also think it’s about South Australians doing the right thing, understanding the need to QR check-in and wear masks.

“We may have had cases we don’t know about, but the chains of transmission haven’t progressed.”

SA Police at the border checkpoint between South Australia and Victoria. Picture Frank Monger

Prof Spurrier said the transition committee would consider easing Queensland border restrictions at its meeting today as local restrictions are also debated.

Authorities say major changes are unlikely as NSW and Victoria battle Delta outbreaks.

NSW Health said the cluster in the state’s far west, including Broken Hill and Wilcannia rose by nine patients to 79 cases.

A Broken Hill woman, aged in her 40s, is stable in the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

Premier Steven Marshall said authorities had learned about the two truckies “very early”, allowing a net to be placed over contacts.

Premier Steven Marshall and Chief Public Health Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Mr Marshall on Monday briefed Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the home quarantine trial using a specialised facial recognition and geolocating phone app.

A week into the trial, Mr Marshall said it had so far gone “extraordinarily … and magnificently well” but said some “behavioural issues” – such as how long people have to reply to random checks – were still being ironed out.

Mr Marshall also defended the state’s slow vaccination levels, arguing a national cabinet decision had allowed NSW, Victoria and Queensland to bring forward additional doses.

He said SA would get a supply surge within weeks, in which the lag would be corrected.

“We will be catching up,” he said. He said SA was on track to achieve 80 per cent well before Christmas as hesitancy disappears.

SA Health on Monday announced the Ridgehaven Waterworld Covid-19 drive-through testing clinic was now the state’s third permanent 24/7 testing site.

No new cases amid growing fears over truckies

South Australia recorded zero new cases on Monday despite growing concerns over two Covid-positive truck drivers who visited the state’s north and west twice in the past nine days.

SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said there were about 150 contacts identified, with 99 people directed into quarantine as a precaution.

“The team have given me an update last night. I’ve been in contact with about 150 contacts, not all of those will be close contacts, but at this stage 99 people have been directed into quarantine for 14 days,” Professor Spurrier said on radio this morning.

“There were 20 negative tests overnight, but that will be an underestimate, there’ll be a lot more people that have been tested, and we’ll be putting those numbers together this morning.”

Prof Spurrier again expressed disappointment in the lack of QR code check-ins at the tier 1 exposure sites and said her team was frantically trying to contact 15 people who had not done so.

Police at border check point near Penola last year. Picture: Tom Huntley

Professor Spurrier said regional South Australians needed to stop thinking of Covid-19 as a “city problem”.

“Because of those trucking routes and people in our essential sector workforce and the electricity and the gas and important infrastructure in our state we do have people that have come from those states where there is Covid.”

She said SA Health was looking to use food safety inspectors from the Adelaide City Council to check on QR code compliance at hospitality venues.

“We have a team that’s being built up in one of our public health sections and they work very closely with the local council.”

“We are looking at improving compliance through those inspectors that normally go into food stores and cafes and restaurants and do the checks on food hygiene.”

EARLIER

Premier Steven Marshall confirmed on Sunday that the pair, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday in Perth, had travelled through South Australia on August 21 and August 22, as well as August 25 and 26.

They visited several petrol stations in Port Augusta, Ceduna and Nundroo.

Professor Spurrier expressed frustration that some people were still not using QR codes, even though it was a legal requirement.

“If people had just done a QR check-in, we would have already had these people contacted and they would know that they’re at risk and we could have done the follow-through,” she said.

“Because we’ve got that gap in our information, we’re now looking at bank records when people have paid by credit, and also looking at the CCTV footage itself.’’

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Local sporting finals were cancelled on Saturday and tourist attractions have been closed in Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Ceduna

“We are taking no chances whatsoever – we’ve identified those sites that they came into and attended during their two visits to South Australia,” Mr Marshall said.

“We’re saying to people, if you were at these sites, please identify yourself, we do need to make sure that we are taking no chances with regard to the Delta variant.”

Eight more exposure sites in Port Augusta, Ceduna and Nundroo were added Saturday night, once the additional visit had been confirmed.

SA Health is continuing to track the movement of the truck drivers but Mr Marshall said he believed this was a “low-level risk for us’’.

The trucker pair, aged 23 and 29, tested positive for coronavirus in Perth on Thursday night after their cross-country trips, during which they visited several petrol stations in Ceduna, Port Augusta and Nundroo.

The duo, who had each had one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and wore masks outside their trucks, drove almost 4000km from Sydney to Western Australia via Victoria and South Australia.

Among those in quarantine are six staff and three customers who used QR codes.

No border crackdowns have been imposed.

Mr Marshall said Covid was a “nasty virus and there is no silver bullet to make our state 100 per cent impenetrable”.

“The situations at our two eastern borders puts us at high alert,” he said.

NSW recorded 1290 new local Covid cases on Monday and four more deaths, while Victoria recorded 73 new locally acquired cases.

Port Augusta mayor Brett Benbow said the shocked community had rallied. “They realise the importance,” he said.

Sport cancelled in two regions

An SA Health spokeswoman said Covid management plans had also been cancelled for various sporting leagues, while the local council has announced tourist attractions have closed “out of an abundance of caution”.

Port Pirie events were also affected.

The Western United Football Club at Penong, west of Ceduna and Port Augusta football and netball preliminary and semi-finals have been postponed.

The spokeswoman praised the organisations for the “responsive and cooperative approach” with SA Health and their excellent co-operation at short notice.

Port Augusta mayor Brett Benbow urged the community to not panic and to follow health advice.

“I think they realise the importance, you can always rearrange a football or netball match,” he said. “Everyone is following the directions. There’s no concern at the moment but contact tracers are working through it all.”

A spokesman for the local sporting organisations told locals a decision had been quickly made to cancel “due to the current exposure sites and the potential risk that playing sport may pose”.

He also urged people to follow local protocols.

Originally published as No new SA cases but 99 in quarantine linked to Covid-positive NSW truckies