South Australia records three new locally acquired Covid-19 cases

South Australia has recorded a third new locally acquired case of Covid-19, while a hospital emergency department has been forced into lockdown.

South Australia has now recorded three new locally acquired cases of Covid-19, while more exposure sites have been added to the list.

An 81-year-old man who had completed hotel quarantine in Sydney after returning from Argentina with his daughter tested positive early on Monday. He had received a single dose of the vaccine.

The man returned to SA on July 8 and had respiratory symptoms develop over the weekend before presenting to Modbury Hospital in Adelaide’s north eastern suburbs on Sunday, forcing its emergency department into lockdown.

So far, 27 patients and 25 staff have been identified as being in the same vicinity as the positive case.

Two of the man’s close contacts also tested positive late on Monday — his daughter and a man, both aged in their 50s.

Earlier, Premier Steven Marshall said more than a dozen close contacts of the man had been put into 14 days of quarantine and would be tested.

Among them was his grandson, who is enrolled at the Elizabeth Vale School, but he tested negative.

The SA Health Department said two historical infections identified in a medi-hotel had also been added to the state’s case numbers as they had not been counted elsewhere.

An infected 81-year-old man infected with Covid-19 presented in the Modbury Hospital, where the emergency department is now in lockdown. Picture: Morgan Sette

Mr Marshall again urged South Australians not to be complacent and to get tested if even the mildest of symptoms developed.

“We are on high alert at the moment in SA … (the infected man) has been out and about in the community,” he said.

“We’ve now got to identify those people that he could have potentially come in contact with.

“We’re assuming it is the Delta variant, but we don’t have the final genomic testing of that strain yet. That will likely take 24 hours for those tests to come back.”

New restrictions are being imposed in SA, including private gatherings capped at 10 people and masks on public transport and shared indoor spaces where physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Anyone with symptoms is urged to get tested. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

Earlier, Elizabeth Vale School taped a note on the northern suburbs premises that said the primary school would remain closed on Monday “out of an abundance of caution” while SA Health determined the risk to the community.

An education department spokesman confirmed SA Health had advised a member of the school community may have come into close contact with someone diagnosed with Covid-19.

The Premier said the infected man’s grandson had not been to the premises during the school holidays, so it would open again on Tuesday.

The northern suburbs primary school was closed after SA Health advised someone connected to the school might have been exposed to a positive Covid-19 case. Picture: Georgia Westgarth/Nine News Adelaide.

Gaganis Bros has been listed as an exposure site after an infected Covid-19 case visited the business. Picture: Supplied

SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the initial positive case was a “very serious situation” because the virus could “run like wildfire”.

She said Modbury hospital staff would be put into hotel quarantine and the patients would be transferred to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which was currently where the infected elderly man was.

The following exposure sites have been listed and anyone who has been at these venues, as well as their household contacts, must isolate for 14 days, get tested on days one, five and 13:

• OPSM, Golden Grove, July 17 from 3pm to 3.45pm
• Gaganis Bros, Hindmarsh, July 16 from 1pm to 2.30pm
• CommBank, Modbury, July 13 from 10am to 11.15am and July 14 from 10.30am to 12.15pm
• Aldi, St Agnes Shopping Centre, July 13 from 10.20am to 11.30am
  
• OTR Motorsport Park service station, Dukes Hwy, Tailem Bend, July 9 from 7.20am to 8.15am
• Coolabah Tree Cafe, Tailem Bend, July 9 from 5.20pm to 7pm
• Shell Coles Express Tailem Bend, including bathrooms, July 9 from 5.20pm to 7pm.

Anyone who has been to the following locations during the listed times is required to immediately get tested, quarantine for 14 days and get retested on days five and 13:

• Golden Grove Village Shopping Centre, July 17 from 3pm to 4.45pm
• The Grove News Agency, Golden Grove, July 17 from 3:30pm to 3:45pm
• St Agnes Shopping Centre, St Agnes, July 13 from 10.30am to 11.30am
• Modbury Hospital Emergency Department, July 18 from 10pm to July 19 at 8am.

They must also complete this form to notify SA Health they were at one of these locations.

Those who have been to the following locations must monitor for symptoms:

• Wigley Reserve at Glenelg, July 16 from 12.30pm to 1.15pm.