South Australia records five new cases, restrictions imposed

A family of five in South Australia is infected with Covid-19 and restrictions have been imposed but the state avoided entering lockdown.

South Australia has recorded five new cases and will introduce restrictions but will not go into a lockdown, Premier Steven Marshall says.

A miner, who worked at the NT mine where positive covid cases emerged earlier this week, tested negative upon returning to South Australia but later returned a positive test.

“We are categorising this as linked transmissions from the Northern Territory mine exposure site,” Mr Marshall said.

“His wife and three of his four children, all of whom have also been at home since Saturday, have also tested positive.”

The family has been transferred to South Australia’s dedicated quarantine hotel.

The miner and his wife are both aged in their 30s. Three of the couple’s children, all under 10, are infected, but a baby under the age of 1 has not caught the virus.

South Australia’s chief health officer Nicola Spurrier says everybody on the man’s flight from Alice Springs to Adelaide has been contacted and will need to get tested and quarantine.

The man flew on Virgin flight VA1742 from Alice Springs that arrived in Adelaide at 5pm Friday. There were believed to be more than 110 people on board.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall speaks at a COVID19 announcement in Port Adelaide. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Mr Marshall announced additional restrictions including reducing home gatherings to 10.

He said South Australians will need to wear masks indoors “where it is very difficult for the contact tracers to know who you have been adjacent to”.

It comes after the spread of the Delta variant around Australia caused South Australia to introduce new restrictions.

Mr Marshall announced on Monday afternoon that caps at private gatherings, density requirements and a pause on all communal facilities would begin from midnight on Monday.

The new restrictions are expected to be in place for a week.

Under the changes, masks will need to be worn in high risk settings like aged care facilities and hospitals, and were “highly recommended” for commuters using public transport and rideshare vehicles.

A cap of 150 people will be allowed at private gatherings, including weddings and funerals.

Licensed premises will have a density arrangement of one person per two sqm and only seated alcohol consumption will be allowed indoors.

No communal facilities, like buffets or smoking shisha, are permitted.

Singing has also been banned at indoor seated entertainment facilities, such as choirs and karaoke bars.

Parts of NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and the NT are already in lockdown.

— More to come