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The South Australian government has decided to quarantine the entire state after learning of a lie from a single person. The lie reached the police, they investigated the matter and the six-day quarantine is already a fact, it began on Wednesday.
This is what it’s all about.
The man fell ill with COVID-19, but lied to authorities about his job at a pizzeria in the city of Adelaide. He saved them the information that he had taken “multiple” shifts at the pizzeria. He assured them that he was just a customer. The result? 36 new cases of coronavirus. Among them are not only foreigners, but also the first locals to fall ill since April, writes the BBC.
The quarantine order could have been avoided if the man had told authorities the whole truth, police said.
“It would be an understatement to say I’m angry,” US Prime Minister Stephen Marshall told reporters on Friday. “We are outraged by the actions of this man and we will watch the consequences very closely.”
Australia relies on quarantine, mass testing and aggressive contact tracking to reduce the number of infected to almost zero.
Regardless of what the US government comes up with, these “consequences” certainly cannot include police action, as no penalty can be imposed for lying, said Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.
Lying also makes it difficult to follow up on contacts. It is quite possible that the people you interacted with have not been identified and have not yet been isolated and evaluated.
Despite these concerns, US authorities have considered the length of the quarantine and will lift it on Saturday, three days earlier than originally announced. The softening of the tone came after they identified only three new cases of coronavirus infection today.
A reporter asked if the pizzeria, Woodville Pizza Bar, needed more security due to the “anger of the people.” Stevens said they are considering a lot at this stage without answering clearly.
The state is investigating the success of its neighbor, Victoria, in treating the coronavirus infection. There were about 800 deaths there. Victoria is now celebrating its 21st consecutive day with no new infections on record since its capital Melbourne emerged from a strict four-month quarantine.
In Australia, a total of 900 deaths and 28,000 infections were reported.
