South Australia to open to tourists after 11 days of no coronavirus cases

After recording their eleventh consecutive day of no new coronavirus cases, parts of this state could be the first to open to visitors.

After recording their eleventh consecutive day of no new coronavirus cases, South Australia has given local councils the green light to reopen playgrounds and skate parks and possibly even open borders to tourists once again.

The state’s total number of coronavirus cases remains at 438, with 98 per cent recovered.

Just seven cases are active, with three patients in hospital and none in intensive care.

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier urged councils to clean equipment regularly, and erect signage to reinforce social distancing and gathering rules.

Premier Steven Marshall said the state had done “particularly well” and the next challenge was to reboot the economy. Easing restrictions around funerals is high on the agenda of the South Australian government provided COVID-19 cases don’t climb.

As part of rebooting the local economy, Senator Marshall said he was very keen to see regional tourism resume as soon as it was safe and welcomed by country communities.

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Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills was impacted by low tourist numbers over the bushfire period. Picture: SATC/Michael Waterhouse.

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“When it’s safe to do so, that will be one of our priority areas,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“I’m keen to see it happen because I know it’s going to create a lot of jobs.”

Professor Spurrier said easing restrictions at funerals was high on the priority list as they were very important events and could not be delayed, unlike weddings.

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said she was confident playgrounds and skate parks were safe to reopen, provided users continued social distancing, given they were outdoor activities and equipment could be cleaned.

South Australia has been haemorrhaging almost $430 million a month, according to April figures released by Stafford Strategy research.

Parts of the state were hit by catastrophic bushfires earlier this year before the outbreak of the coronavirus and were unable to recover in between.

The state of South Australia has been haemorrhaging almost $430 million a month. Picture: Supplied

Last month, Senator Simon Birmingham said it would be “critical” for South Australians – and other visitors from across the country – to visit parts of the state to help the region recover.

“When travel restrictions are eased, for those who in a position to do so, it will be critical that we not only support destinations like Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills who are still suffering from the impacts of the bushfires, but all our other tourism regions who are all doing it incredibly tough right now,” he said.

“Getting back into our tourism towns when it is safe to do so will be vital to the economic recovery of many businesses and to getting people back to work across the state.”

Across South Australia alone, tourism contributes more than $8 billion to the state annually and employs almost 40,000 people.

According to the Australian, some tourism operators fear that they are just weeks away from collapsing if visitors don’t return to the state soon.

– with AAP