Covid 19 coronavirus: a Spaniard can be deported after causing the closure of South Australia

A Spaniard can be deported from Australia after causing the coronavirus lockdown in South Australia.

A medi-hotel worker who lied about his link to a pizzeria, leading to the closure of South Australia, may be deported to Spain.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the Woodville Pizza Bar investigation was still in its early stages, but that the “primary person of interest” was a 36-year-old man of Spanish origin.

The man is legally in Australia on a temporary graduate visa, which expires in mid-December.

“We are interested in talking to at least two other people, who we think can help us with our inquiries,” Stevens told reporters on Saturday.

“If this person had been more honest with us, we would not have instituted a six-day lockdown.

“This is the only element that pushed us from the level of restrictions that we were implementing on Tuesday to a much more severe regime.”

When asked if the man would be deported when his visa expired, Stevens said: “What happens in relation to his personal status in Australia will be subject to the outcome of our investigative process.”

Twenty detectives are working on the case.

Stevens said that he and Public Health Director Nicola Spurrier were satisfied that they made the right decision at the time based on available information.

“To be clear, the decision to shut down … was not based on an interview with a man,” Spurrier said.

“We would never make those decisions in isolation with a single piece of information; it is very complex.”

Spurrier said SA had registered a new Covid-19 case overnight, as SA prepared to end its six-day lockdown early Saturday night.

“This is not an example of community broadcasting, or something has just come out of nowhere.”

Spurrier said it was a close contact from a previous case that was already in quarantine, so they posed no risk to the community.

“He has been in quarantine since his partner tested positive.

“So he’s definitely tied to the Parafield group.”

There are now 26 cases related to the outbreak and one person remains in hospital.

Spurrier said that more than 5,400 people linked to Parafield’s group were contacted and quarantined.

“We have made great strides in research and getting through this outbreak.”

There are 37 active cases in SA.

“This coming week for us is critical in our state,” Spurrier said.

“It is time for us to seek that general community broadcast.”

Spurrier revealed there were about 40 close contacts that authorities had not been able to contact directly, saying it was “a big boost” for Saturday.

“Everybody gets an SMS message to tell them that they are a close contact and that they should go into quarantine and get tested, but of course we want to follow up and talk to people directly,” he said.

Spurrier also revealed that a junior physician was responsible for detecting the state’s first case, prompting Parafield’s group.

Marshall said 19,000 coronavirus tests had been performed on Friday, up from the usual 2,000 or 3,000.

“This is an extraordinary response and for that I am very grateful.”

Marshall said it had been an extraordinary week.

“But my message to South Australia is very clear: we are not out of the woods yet.

“We are still managing a very dangerous group, and although we are easing those restrictions, we are still very concerned about this group.”

Marshall said that although the risk had been “downgraded” and “refined,” there was still a very real risk.