SA to re-open border to Victoria as state records two new local COVID-19 infections

SA still looks to open up to Victoria and ease restrictions with Premier Steven Marshall saying the state was “on track”. This is when.

South Australia plans to stick with its December 1 deadline to open borders with Victoria and ease restrictions.

Premier Steven Marshall said the state remained “on track” to remove its border arrangements next week.

“I know a lot of people would be very, very happy about that,” he said.

“We know Queensland will be making a decision on Monday next week. We’re hopeful we will be able to resume normalised borders across Australia, certainly in time for Christmas but I'm hoping it will be much sooner.

“The reality is we’ll normalise our border with Victoria on Tuesday next week.

“We’re open with NSW, the ACT, the NT, Qld and Tasmania are the next ones to consider what their arrangements are going to be. I think WA has made their position really clear.”

SA will remove its border restrictions with Victoria on December 1. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said authorities have given a clear indication they were hopeful for restrictions to ease by next Tuesday.

“I think it’s been made pretty clear we’re still aiming for a Christmas that’s as normal as possible based on the restrictions we had back in mid November but we do rely on expert health advice,” he said.

“It’s been very good so far in terms of managing the virus so we’ll see what is said tomorrow... and we’ll announce as soon as possible what’s planned for December 1.”

South Australia reported two new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, taking the state’s total number of active cases to 40.

The new cases are both linked to the growing Parafield cluster, which now has 31 connected cases. The new cases bring the state’s total number of cases to 559.

The state initially recorded no new infections on Wednesday but health officials revealed later in the afternoon there was in fact one new case, however her test was counted in Thursday’s tally.

It was a female student who attended the Woodville High School in Adelaide’s western suburbs.

An alert was quickly issued for all staff and students who were on campus on Monday to isolate until further notice with their families.

South Australia has recorded one new COVID-19 case on Tuesday. Picture: Brenton Edwards

SA Health’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the teenage girl was exposed to the virus at the Woodville Pizza Bar, having picked up a pizza on November 14.

She said anyone else who bought food from the Woodville Rd business should get tested.

“We are still working through exactly this person‘s infectiousness period. We are trying to look at the interpretation of the data that we have from her results and we still haven’t completely nailed exactly how she got infected and when she was infectious,” Professor Spurrier said.

“There is also the possibility that there might have been somebody else, so another person who has been infected that this person has become infected through.”

Health authorities said the teenaged teenage girl was exposed to the virus at the Woodville Pizza Bar. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

It is still unknown if the student caught public transport to and from school but Professor Spurrier said any information that the public needed to know would be listed on the SA Health website.

“That whole area around Woodville, we are going to be putting out more messaging today and we are going to be doing more testing there and to help people in that area we are going to make sure we have got enough testing sites available.”

Health authorities are looking at setting up a pop-up testing clinic at Woodville, with the council chambers being explored as a possible location.

Woodville High School will remain closed, with plans to reopen next Monday, November 30, after further deep cleaning.

Professor Spurrier said the second person who tested positive to the virus is a male in his 40s who is a close contact of a confirmed case.

She said he was in quarantine and was isolating with his family.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier watches on as Premier Stephen Marshall speaks to media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Mr Marshall said nearly 5000 people had gone into quarantine to reduce the circulation of this virus and “stop it in its tracks”.

“The record testing rates we have seen over the last few days will be critical in our efforts to rein in this virus,” he said.

“Nearly 10,000 South Australians were tested yesterday. This is quite simply an outstanding result for our state.”

The state’s Transition Committee will meet again on Friday.