The majority of cases in South Australia's coronavirus cluster are asymptomatic, the state's Premier Steven Marshall has revealed.
South Australians woke to their first day of a harsh six-day lockdown that prevents residents from leaving their homes for anything but essential services, grocery shopping and medical attention. Residents are unable to exercise or leave their homes to walk their dogs.
Mr Marshall is due to hold a press conference at 11am (AEDT) which you can watch below:
The government revealed there had been no new cases diagnosed overnight.
South Australians were awaiting the results of mass testing after the Parafield outbreak, seeded at the Peppers quarantine hotel in Adelaide's CBD, which stood at 23 linked cases by Thursday morning.
The state conducted more than 17,000 tests in the past 48 hours and more than 4000 close contacts are in quarantine or self-isolation.
SA Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said there were 17 people who are suspected of having the virus.
Three of the positive cases are hospitalised and are in a stable condition.
Mr Marshall told ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday morning the specific strain of coronavirus circulating in Adelaide's northern suburbs was "frightening".
"The elements of this are quite frightening in so much that the vast amount of people who are getting infected in this strain are showing no symptoms, so it's quite different than anything we've seen before," he said.
People queuing outside a Woolworths supermarket at West Torrens in Adelaide after the lockdown was announced.Credit:Getty
Mr Marshall said it was clear he needed to pull the trigger on a hard six-day lockdown after his public health team told him on Wednesday, "don't deliberate, we only have one chance".
"This circuit-breaker is so important for us to get ahead of the game," he said.
South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said public health advice had deemed exercise and dog-walking as "non essential" until next Tuesday, but conceded there were ways around the rule.
"If you’re walking to the shops on your own to get essential goods and services, then yes [you can walk your dog there]," Mr Stevens said on ABC radio.
"[But] we don't want people to be smartarses to manipulate this to do what they want to do."
Commissioner Stevens said SA police were "not going to hit people with a big stick" in regards to enforcement but called on South Australians to use common sense interpreting the rules.
There have been reports that tourists from South Australia streamed over interstate borders before the lockdown came into effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Michael McIvor, the operator of Broken Hill Tourist Park in NSW, said his business went from 50 bookings to over 400 from Wednesday morning to Wednesday night due to the influx of South Australians.
"The phones were ringing red hot, we had four lines coming in at once," he told ABC Radio.
Mr McIvor said he had more demand than accommodation available, but tried to help as many people as he could.
"We were pulling out linen and blankets so they could sleep in their cars and have a shower in the toilet blocks."
Panic buying
South Australian supermarkets were slammed as soon as the lockdown was announced on Wednesday, with all major supermarkets announcing purchasing limits on certain items.
"[We] had to call people in and we easily had our best day on record, sales-wise," said Chris Kaitatzas, manager of an IGA in inner-city Adelaide.
Supermarket chain Foodland's CEO Franklin dos Santos said the effect of the lockdown his stores had been "astronomical."
"The past 24 hours were very similar to Christmas," he said. "They basically did a Christmas eve shop in under nine hours."
But contrary to fears from authority, Mr dos Santos said the public had remained respectful and orderly in stores despite panic buying, and commended his young staff for handling the huge jump in customer demand.
"Some of them are kids and they are doing a remarkable job."
When announcing the six-day lockdown, South Australian Chief Medical Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier told reporters the strain of COVID-19 appeared to have a "very, very short incubation period" with those infected showing symptoms of the virus within 24 hours of exposure.
Some experts have raised questions about whether a six-day lockdown will be sufficient to stem the outbreak.
"I think it's slightly on the short side to be perfectly honest," said Dean of Health at Melbourne's Swinburne University, Dr Bruce Thompson.
"If you’re only aiming for one incubation period you’re losing your margin for error," he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, an epidemiologist with the University of New South Wales, also cast doubt on the theory of a new strain and said it was unlikely "the pathogenicity or the infectivity of the virus had changed".
"The ability for patients to become infectious early on is nothing new, we have known this since about April, when the World Health organisation wrote in one of their updates that they are now seeing people becoming infectious at least by day three," she said.
The restrictions in South Australia are harsher than those implemented during Victoria's second coronavirus wave, which reached more than 700 cases a day at its peak.
Residents across South Australia are unable to leave their homes even for exercise. All schools, universities, factories and construction sites are closed.
The Australian Funeral Directors Association has raised alarm at the lockdown measures which also prevent any funerals until next Tuesday.
President of the association Andrew Pinder said the funeral shutdown was drastic and out of step with lockdowns in other states, where funerals were able to go ahead with small numbers of people.
"We are not unsympathetic to the present COVID-19 outbreak ... but denying even limited, socially distant funerals is a step entirely too far," he said.
Mr Pinder also warned that the industry may run out of room for bodies if the ban on funerals continues for more than six days.
"Storage space for bodies is not unlimited and if funerals are banned for more than six
days plans for emergency storage will need to be implemented."
No plans to alter quarantine plans: Health Minister
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said despite Adelaide's outbreak stemming from hotel quarantine – as was the case in Victoria's deadly second wave – there were no plans to move away from the model that quarantines incoming international passengers in central city locations.
"What we have to recognise is we are bringing Australians home," he told ABC Radio Adelaide. "To bring home tens of thousands of people as we are doing means we have to have the capacity. This system is protecting Australia and there’s no way to bring Australians home unless this system is in place."
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall and Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Credit:Getty and Alex Ellinghausen
Mr Hunt said South Australia's harsh, short lockdown was a "model response", and disputed the assertion the federal government was overly critical of the Victorian governments response in contrast.
"When the Victorian response had gone on for 100 days of lockdown, not six days, we were deeply concern about mental health," he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison he believed the South Australian lockdown would last days, not weeks.
"When the Victorian lockdown was put in, I understood that as well. So I’ve taken a very consistent approach in respecting the decisions of the states," told Nine's Today show.
Mr Morrison said he remained "hopeful and ambitious" that state border restrictions will lift in time for Christmas.
- with Chris Moir, Josh Dye and Melissa Cunningham
Rachael Dexter is a breaking news reporter at The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiigFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2ZyaWdodGVuaW5nLW1ham9yaXR5LW9mLWNvdmlkLTE5LWNhc2VzLWluLXNvdXRoLWF1c3RyYWxpYS1jbHVzdGVyLWFyZS1hc3ltcHRvbWF0aWMtMjAyMDExMTktcDU2ZnlhLmh0bWzSAYoBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9mcmlnaHRlbmluZy1tYWpvcml0eS1vZi1jb3ZpZC0xOS1jYXNlcy1pbi1zb3V0aC1hdXN0cmFsaWEtY2x1c3Rlci1hcmUtYXN5bXB0b21hdGljLTIwMjAxMTE5LXA1NmZ5YS5odG1s?oc=5
2020-11-18 23:57:00Z
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