South Australia announces six-day ‘circuit breaker’ lockout after sudden outbreak

SOUTH AUSTRALIA HAS announced a six-day “circuit breaker” lockout for its nearly two million residents to contain a sudden outbreak of coronavirus that ended a streak of months without infections.

Schools, stores, pubs, factories and even take-out restaurants were told to close at midnight and stay-at-home orders were issued for residents across the state.

A total of 22 cases have now been linked to a group that emerged from an Adelaide hotel used to quarantine travelers from abroad.

“We’re going hard and we’re going early,” said State Prime Minister Steven Marshall.

“Time is of the essence and we must act quickly and decisively. We can’t wait to see how bad this gets. “

The state is the first in Australia to issue a blanket ban on outdoor exercise, and the use of masks will be required across the state, which had not seen a significant outbreak since April.

The measures are in stark contrast to the United States, where some politicians refuse to implement basic virus measures even as case numbers increase, or Europe, where lockdowns were introduced only after infections spiked.

Health director Nicola Spurrier said the infections appeared to be caused by a particularly virulent strain that was spreading “very, very quickly,” and that people were contagious within 24 hours.

“I can’t make this decision in two or three weeks or even two or three days because it will be too late,” he said.

Since the group was confirmed, officials had begun ordering thousands of suspected close contacts to isolate themselves and suspend international flights.

Since then, Adelaide residents have been flocking to Covid-19 testing sites, and many have been forced to wait several hours in long lines to be seen by overwhelmed doctors.

Spurrier said the state hoped to avoid a prolonged Melbourne-style lockdown. Residents of Australia’s second-largest city spent months mostly homebound after security errors in quarantining a hotel.

The surprise announcement sparked a new round of panic buying in Adelaide, prompting supermarkets to introduce two-item limits on certain products and to issue guarantees that they would stay open.

“We will have police officers on standby to attend if we see any civil disorder and we will take action,” said South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.

Melbourne, which recorded thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths at the height of its outbreak, has begun easing restrictions after more than two weeks with no new cases.

Other Australian regions, where the virus has been largely eliminated, have imposed new quarantine rules on anyone traveling from South Australia.

The country’s internal borders had been gradually reopened and were due to reopen almost completely by Christmas, but the latest outbreak may put it at risk.

It will also further delay the return of more than 30,000 Australians who remain stranded abroad due to government-imposed limits on international travelers, despite the government’s promise to bring them home before the holidays.

Australia has been relatively successful in containing the virus, with just over 27,700 cases and 907 deaths recorded since the pandemic began.

© AFP 2020