Premier Steven Marshall addressed the South Australian public from isolation this afternoon, announcing two further deaths and 4,024 new active cases of Covid-19 in the state.
The deaths were a man in his 90s and a woman in her 80s.
There are currently 188 people in hospital, an increase from 176 on Sunday, with a total of 27,762 active cases across the state.
“We’re seeing an increase in hospitalisations … we are not at the peak yet,” Premier Marshall said.
21,845 covid tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours, with the Premier himself having to isolate, following the announcement that his daughter had tested positive, making him a close contact. He is expected to leave isolation on Thursday.
“Thank you again to all those people … who are going off to have those tests,” he said.
“We are still requiring a PCR test for all close contacts. We will be moving to the rapid antigen test from Thursday morning next week”.
The premier said that all plans are now moving forward for the transition to RAT’s to replace PCR testing.
“There’ll be no requirement [from Thursday] for people to have a PCR test to confirm a positive rapid antigen test.”
The premier also addressed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s earlier press conference in regards to the food supply chain sectors, with new arrangements being considered for close contacts of those in the industry.
Premier Marshall supported the Prime Minister, saying that SA is fully onboard with asymptomatic close contact workers in the food supply industry returning to work.
This comes as children aged 5 to 11 start to receive their first jab from today, with an expected 10,000 paediatric doses to be sent to GP’s and pharmacies across the state before end of the month.
In regards to schooling, the Premier said that children were still due to go back to school on January 31.
He said parents and teachers can expect disruptions to the first day of Term 1, with a final decision on schools to be announced on Friday, following a national cabinet meeting on Thursday.
“Students do much better face to face, we have to look at two aspects; the physical health and the mental health aspect.”
“SA has had the fewest days lost of face to face learning of anywhere in Australia.”
Important things to note:
You may not always receive a call, SMS or email from SA Health.
You must follow the relevant health advice even if you have not been contacted.
If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, no matter how mild, please seek testing as soon as possible.
For more information on health advice and requirements for households, visit www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/COVIDcontacttracing.
Find your nearest testing site at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/COVIDtesting
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