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The strain of coronavirus that is wreaking havoc in South Australia has particular characteristics that are of more concern to authorities.
When the state announced that it would enter a total lockdown for at least six days starting at midnight on Wednesday in an attempt to combat the latest wave of Covid-19, Health Director Professor Nicola Spurrier explained the reason for the difficult measure.
“This particular strain has had certain characteristics,” he said today.
“It has a very, very short incubation period. That means that when someone is exposed, it takes 24 hours or even less for that person to become infectious to others and the other characteristic of the cases that we have seen so far is that they have had minimal symptoms and sometimes no symptoms, but I have been able to pass it on to other people. “
Professor Spurrier said that characteristic meant that a generation, or stage of people transmitting the virus to others, lasted only about three days.
“We also know, from that characteristic, that what we call a generation, is only around three days and a generation is when a case is passing it to the next level, and then that (next) level, so if they pass they will pass it on. to two people, they’ll pass it on to a bunch of other people, and that’s their third generation, “he said.
“At the moment in SA we have carried out contact tracing up to the fourth generation, but the fifth generation is in our community and at this moment we are tracing contacts to reach that generation and that is Woodville pizzeria.”
Authorities have grave fears about the pizzeria on Woodville Rd, considered one of the hot spots for the Parafield group.
Parafield’s group started with a worker from Peppers Warmouth, which is used as a medi-hotel in Adelaide’s CBD.
There is concern that the virus has spread to the western suburbs from there.
SA Health has reported two new cases today, bringing the total confirmed cases to 22.
There are at least 12 other cases still under investigation, while more than 4,000 people remain in quarantine at home or in medi-hotels.
“The reason for going for this six-day period of really significant restrictions is that it’s two generations, we’re up to the fifth and then we get to six,” he said.
“We don’t have time to wait. If I thought about this all day and then told the police commissioner, the prime minister, tonight, he would already be 12 hours behind, so we really have to act fast on this. So that one. Is the reason. “
Contact tracing has been done up to the fourth generation.
South Australian authorities have announced a “series of wide-ranging restrictions” to overcome the Covid-19 outbreak.
Another eight days of other restrictions will follow “that will not be as significant.”
Prime Minister Steven Marshall described it Wednesday afternoon as the “circuit breaker” to “get ahead of” the coronavirus.
“There is no second chance to stop a second wave,” Marshall said.
Government authorities, and the country as a whole, have witnessed what happens when a Covid-19 outbreak occurs.
This month alone, Victorians celebrated the lifting of the month-long “ring of steel” between the city and the regions, and Melbourne residents were allowed to travel more than 25 km from their home.
The death toll from coronavirus in Victoria reached 819, compared to double-digit totals in other jurisdictions.