Premier Steven Marshall confirmed today that travellers from Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory will be able to freely travel into the state from midnight 16 June, without undertaking the 14-day quarantine previously required under the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The move pre-empts the previously announced 20 July date for lifting the state’s border restrictions. Travel from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, however, will remain restricted – but the government is “considering Queensland”.
There are some caveats; travellers must be coming directly from the exempted states and territories, and any South Australian residents hoping to cross the border in the opposite direction may still face restrictions from WA, NT and Tasmanian authorities.
“It does mean we’ll be waiting on a reciprocal arrangement, but that will be up to their Premiers and Chief Ministers,” Marshall said.
In addition to the border news, the Premier announced that public assemblies of up to 300 people, along with indoor fitness, dance and yoga class with capacities of up to 20 people – with seven square metres per person – will be allowed from Friday.
At today’s COVID briefing the Premier and Police Commissioner Grant Stevens also addressed an incident at Kilburn overnight, in which a 28-year-old Aboriginal man was arrested by SA Police. Bystander footage of the arrest, which spread widely across social media, shows the young man – who was reportedly riding a bicycle when he was stopped and searched by police – being pinned to the ground by three officers, with one officer appearing to strike the restrained man. The man was released this morning without charge, with SA Police later confirming in a statement that an internal investigation was underway.
Both Marshall and Stevens declined to substantially elaborate on the statement due to that investigation, but confirmed the officers involved had been “placed onto administrative duties”.
As of Monday 16 June there have been a total of 440 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Australia, with one active cases in the state. Of that tally, 436 people have officially been cleared of the virus, with over 126,000 tests 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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