The woman in her 20s returned a positive test result after flying into Adelaide on Wednesday night, and has remained in hotel quarantine since. Chief Public Health Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier today confirmed that the woman wore a mask in transit, and that the remaining members of her travelling party have since returned negative test results.
Professor Spurrier explained that the woman, who has displayed “mild symptoms” likely contracted the virus while carrying out her work as directed by Victorian health authorities – including administering tests in Melbourne’s controversially locked down public health towers.
“Of course, we are suspecting she contracted the virus during the work,” Spurrier said. “It is part of the risk of this sort of work; you might recall some months ago when we had patients in our ICU, we had a young nurse who contracted the virus.”
The woman was one of 21 paramedics who travelled to Victoria over three weeks ago. While acknowledging working in health was a “risky business”, Spurrier said the role of local health workers providing assistance to Victorian authorities – which recorded 627 new cases today and 723 yesterday – remained important. “Victoria’s problem is our problem, they are our close neighbours,” she said.
Today’s briefing also saw Police Commissioner Grant Stevens confirm that Hindley St venue Red Square was the latest Adelaide venue to be found in breach of current COVID-19 directions. A complaint from the public prompted a police investigation which found “substantial breaches”, culminating in the issuing of a $5,000 fine.
The venue – which on Tuesday posted a photo gallery to Facebook of patrons closely embracing and in one instance licking each other – has been referred to the Liquor Licensing Commission along with music venue Fat Controller, which hit the news earlier this week after being fined for similar breaches. They join a handful of other late night venues and a backpackers’ hostel which have been fined for failing to comply with COVID-19 directions.
Additionally, a 43-year-old man from Colac, Victoria has been arrested and charged after assisting a 65-year-old woman’s attempts to bypass border checks and gain entry to South Australia.
As of Friday 31 July there have been a total of 450 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Australia, with three active cases in the state. Of that greater tally, 443 people have officially been cleared of the virus, with over 237,500 undertaken. Readers are advised to consult SA Health’s website for the latest information.
Read the state government’s COVID-19 recovery plan here
Walter is a writer and editor living on Kaurna Country.
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