Strict, six-day coronavirus lockdown begins in South Australia
A virtually empty Rundle Mall on the first day of a lockdown in Adelaide. Reuters
Gulf Today Report
South Australia began one of the toughest lockdowns on Thursday with outdoor gatherings, weddings, funerals, food takeaways all coming to a standstill as authorities try to stifle the latest flare-up of the novel coronavirus.
Even outdoor exercise and dog-walking are banned as the state, home to about 1.8 million people, has recorded 23 cases from the latest cluster.
The state tries to contain a cluster of COVID-19 infections for that next six days; only one person from a household will be allowed to leave home each day, and only for essential reasons, authorities said.
“We’ve had to take this extreme action, this important intervention, to put a circuit breaker in place to deal with this disease,” Premier Steven Marshall told the media.
“We have a particularly difficult strain of the disease, which is showing no symptoms for people who become infected,” he added.
Schools, universities, cafes and restaurants are closed, weddings and funerals are banned and mask-wearing is mandatory.
“We want to go hard, go early, but get out of it as quickly as we can,” the State premier said of the measures.
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Experts said it was still unclear whether South Australia was experiencing a new virus strain as genomic data was not yet available.
“Moreover, the circulating UK strains aren’t different from what is circulating in other areas, suggesting it is unlikely there is a ‘UK super strain’,” said professor Nigel McMillan, director in infectious diseases and immunology at Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University.
Medical staff members talk to people at a walk-in station at Parafield Airport in Adelaide on Wednesday. AFP
“Of course, a novel strain might have arisen very recently so we await the evidence.”
Elsewhere, Victoria state, which was the epicentre of Australia’s nearly 28,000 cases until last month, clocked its 20th straight day of no new cases. New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, also reported zero local cases.
South Australia’s lockdown casts a shadow on optimism about a strong and swift recovery for the country’s A$2 trillion economy ahead of Christmas, just as Victoria was coming out of its 112-day isolation.
“Overall activity over the last fortnight picked up sharply around Australia as restrictions eased in Victoria and some (state) borders opened,” ANZ bank economists said.
“The unfortunate outbreak in South Australia though could impact overall activity figures in the lead up to the holiday season.”
