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A coronavirus outbreak in the Australian city of Adelaide has risen to 17 cases, with at least two schools and one fast food restaurant closed after being linked to the growing group.
State Prime Minister Steven Marshall briefed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the outbreak Monday morning and said South Australia will do whatever it takes to contain the outbreak.
Darrian Traynor / Getty Images
A coronavirus outbreak in the Australian city of Adelaide has risen to 17 cases, linked to a growing group. (File photo)
“The way we’re going to get through this is by isolating as many people as needed as quickly as possible and making sure those tests are done so we can stop this in its tracks,” he said.
The prime minister said that while the group had been linked to someone who worked at one of Adelaide’s quarantine hotels, it was too early to say what went wrong.
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“My focus right now is to do everything I can, that the government can get over this as quickly as possible,” he said.
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Rising coronavirus cases in the southern Australian city of Adelaide have seen Western Australia and Northern Territory states reimpose restrictions on people traveling from South Africa.
“This is going to put us to the test, there is no doubt about that.
“But I know there will be a high level of cooperation from the people of South Australia and we will move on.”
The outbreak has prompted Western Australia to reimpose restrictions on people traveling from South Africa.
All arrivals, by road or air, will now need to undergo a Covid-19 test and self-isolate for 14 days.
The Northern Territory also declared SA as a coronavirus hotspot, forcing anyone who reaches a supervised quarantine.
SA Health advised Mawson Lakes School and preschool students not to attend Monday after a student was identified as a close contact for one of the positive cases.
Thomas More College was also closed after a confirmed case of coronavirus and the Hungry Jacks store in Port Adelaide was closed.
Another case involved the Yatala Prison in Adelaide, and the Court Administration Authority canceled all appearances of detained inmates at the jail, either in person or via video link.
South Australia’s director of public health, Nicola Spurrier, revealed the increase Monday after SA Health on Sunday found three new locally acquired cases.
The new cases were detected Saturday after an 81-year-old woman went to Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide for testing and was hospitalized.
Two of his family members, a 50-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man, also tested positive.
One of the two worked at a medi-hotel used by returnees from abroad and local residents who cannot self-quarantine at home.
Professor Spurrier said the tests conducted overnight Sunday included other members of the extended family.
15 of the 17 cases so far are believed to be all members of that family.
“We continue to get positives from the machine,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
“We don’t have the genomics yet, but I’m absolutely sure it comes from a medi-hotel,” she said.
The contact of approximately 90 Lyell McEwin Hospital staff and patients who may have been in contact with the older woman is also being traced.
She had also visited the Parafield Plaza supermarket in North Adelaide on Thursday when she was infected.
