Coronavirus SA: Zero known active COVID-19 cases as restrictions ease

After a 14-day streak of no new cases followed by a slight hiccup, one Aussie state has finally announced it has no known COVID-19 infections.

South Australia has reached a major milestone in the fight against coronavirus with the state no longer having any active cases of COVID-19.

But health officials have urged against complacency, calling on locals to maintain efforts to suppress the virus.

No new cases were reported on Friday, leaving the state’s total at 439.

One person remains in hospital but is no longer infectious. SA has now had only one new case of COVID-19 over the past 23 days.

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0. Nil. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Naught.
We have 0 known active COVID-19 cases in South Australia. We’re doing great, but we mustn't be complacent. Remember:
🤒 Get tested if you have symptoms
🙋↔🙋‍♂️ Keep 1.5m distance from others
🤧 Practice good hygiene
📱 Download the COVIDSafe app pic.twitter.com/MeMYCKpuza

— SA Health (@SAHealth) May 15, 2020

However, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said it would be wrong to consider the state “coronavirus-free”.

Some undetected infections could still be present, emphasising the importance of SA’s high rate of testing.

“COVID-19 is still in the world, we’re still getting cases in other states,” Professor Spurrier said.

“If we relax completely, and we don’t keep doing social distancing, once we get a couple of cases it will spread incredibly rapidly.

“We can see that’s happened in other countries, so we all have to continue to play our part.”

Prof Spurrier said any new cases were most likely to come from interstate and overseas, with some people still arriving in SA or crossing the borders.

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SA Chief Public Health Officer. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Premier Steven Marshall said he was excited about the news of no active cases and admitted he had not thought it would happen so soon.

But he said it was no time to relax measures to tackle the virus.

“It’s still a disgusting disease, it’s still a very nasty disease and thousands of people are still dying,” he said.

“We can’t take our foot off the brake, we’ve got to do everything we can to keep everyone safe in South Australia.”

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Congratulations #SouthAustralia - we have ZERO active cases of #Covid19. This has been a collective effort and I’d like to thank everyone for working together to get us to this point. We must now continue to stay the course to keep SA safe and strong. 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/dnTHFgQ3lO

— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) May 15, 2020

Debate also continued on Friday over the plan to lift more restrictions in SA on June 8 when indoor dining at cafes, restaurants and pubs will once again be permitted for up to 20 patrons at a time.

Business groups have been lobbying for the date to be brought forward by three days to allow outlets to take advantage of the long weekend.

But Mr Marshall said the state would not do anything that cut across health considerations.