Tuesday, July 20, 2021

With 5 active cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, South Australia has today begun a 1-week lockdown. Announcing the lockdown, state Premier Steven Marshall declared that “we have no alternative but to impose some fairly heavy and immediate restrictions”.

The first case out of South Australia’s 5 current active cases presented to Modbury Hospital on Sunday night, having returned from Argentina earlier this month. The fifth case, which Premier Marshall noted as “far more worrying”, visited The Greek on Halifax restaurant at the same time as someone who was later confirmed to be carrying the virus. South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, has said that “if anyone has been at The Greek on Halifax they need to get into quarantine and get tested”.

According to the new regulations, there are only 5 reasons to leave home: essential work, shopping for essential goods such as food, exercise (only with people from the same household) within 2.5 kilometers (2 mi) of home, medical reasons (which includes COVID-19 testing and vaccination, but excludes elective and cosmetic surgery), and caregiving.

From tomorrow, schools are to close for all but children of essential workers, with online learning to begin on Thursday. Face masks will also be mandated for those who leave home. ABC News reported that “support for businesses is expected to be announced tomorrow”, with all non-essential retail having to close under the new regulations.

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