Twelve new sites in South Australia have been identified as having been visited by positive COVID-19 cases.
Key points:
- SA Health announced 12 new cases in the state today
- Two cases are healthcare workers who attended aged care facilities across Adelaide
- Four of the cases are children under the age of 12
Five of the exposure sites have been deemed by SA Health to be high-risk locations, with fully-vaccinated people present at the listed dates and times told to enter seven days of quarantine.
They will have to be tested immediately and on days six and 13.
Unvaccinated people at the sites during the listed dates and times will have to quarantine for 14 days.
South Australia’s Courts Administration Authority (CAA) also posted on social media on Tuesday evening, saying it had been contacted by authorities after a COVID-positive case attended the Adelaide Magistrates Court on December 8, 9 and 10.
Loading
The CAA said SA Health was in the process of contacting anybody identified as a contact, but urged anyone with symptoms to get tested.
Earlier, authorities said SA had recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, including two healthcare workers who have visited and provided care at a number of residential aged care homes in Adelaide.
The cases include four women and four men aged between 20 and 60 and four children under 12.
In a statement, SA Health said impacted aged care sites were being contacted and supported to implement “additional infection control measures” while testing of residents and staff was being undertaken.
Authorities have not publicly released details of which aged care homes are affected, but one Adelaide Hills facility has a sign on its door stating it is in lockdown, with no visitors allowed.
Check the table below to find all the sites and exposure windows.
SA Health said of the new cases, five people acquired COVID-19 in South Australia, and are known contacts of a positive case.
One person acquired it interstate.
Six acquired the virus within Australia, but investigations into the source of their infections are still ongoing.
Yesterday, authorities announced attendees of a whole-school assembly at Willunga Primary School on December 10 were close contacts of positive cases.
Hundreds of families have since gone into quarantine, with their unvaccinated children under the age of 12 only allowed out at 12:01am on Christmas Day.
No other exposure sites around Willunga have been added to the list, with residents of the area saying they were concerned about the lack of information.
An SA Health spokesperson told ABC News it would no longer provide details on which new cases were linked to where, meaning they will not confirm how many of today’s cases are linked to the school assembly.
SA Health staff ‘burnt out’, close contact says
Meanwhile, a man who was a close contact of an Omicron case in Adelaide last week said he was also concerned about a lack of contact from health authorities.
Olivers Pets and Plants co-owner David Oliver will be released from the Pullman medi-hotel at midnight after serving seven days of quarantine, after SA Health changed the rules for close contacts of Omicron cases.
He said he was left “frustrated” by the experience and witnessed “firsthand” how under-resourced SA Health staff were.
“Personally, it was a nightmare, because we’ve got a business to run, and we feed all the local racehorses,” he said.
“We just didn’t seem to be very prepared, and I naively thought our government will be prepared.
“[SA Health] are just are so under the pump, and they’re all burnt out, and there’s not enough of them. I don’t blame any of those people, they’re doing a hard job.”
Loading form…
Discussion about this post