SA police warn against lockdown protest
An anti-lockdown protest planned for Adelaide is extremely disappointing and undermines the ability of authorities to contain the spread of COVID-19 during the current outbreak, police say.
The car rally protest is planned for Saturday but police have warned those taking part could face action if lockdown rules are breached.
"Those who are intending to protest are warned that police will be out and about watching for any unnecessary movement in direct deliberate violation of current restrictions," they said in a statement.
"SAPOL will take positive action in deterring and preventing any unlawful activity."
The protest comes after record testing picked up one new coronavirus case on Friday giving Premier Steven Marshall "cause for optimism" that SA can emerge from its week-long statewide lockdown on schedule next week.
Friday's single new infection came on the back of 23,572 virus swabs on Thursday with SA now into the fourth day of a seven-day shutdown.
"It's early days but all of the early indications are positive," Mr Marshall said.
"I think we have cause for optimism, but we've only got cause for optimism because of the great cooperation that we have from the people from South Australia.
"All the early signs are very positive that this will just be a seven-day lockdown."
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said she was also encouraged by the high-testing rates which gave health officials the best chance of picking up any new infections.
"When I see that huge number of tests, it makes me feel reassured that we should be picking up the virus in other parts of the state," she said.
"So that does give me some comfort."
SA's newest infection was in a man in his 60s who attended the Tenafeate Creek winery near one Tree Hill last week which is now linked to eight virus cases.
The man's case took the current outbreak to 15.
However, Professor Spurrier said the man was already isolating at home when he became infectious and was not considered a risk to the wider community.
A number of other cases in the SA cluster were linked to The Greek restaurant in Adelaide after some infected people attended a birthday party last weekend.
The restaurant and the winery are considered superspreader events.
SA's virus cluster began with an 81-year-old man who recently arrived in Australia from Argentina and was quarantined in Sydney before travelling to Adelaide, where he tested positive.
Genomic testing has confirmed the man became infected while in Sydney, not while in Argentina.
Signs of the man's infection may also have been present in wastewater samples checked in Adelaide's northeast last week which returned a positive result last weekend.
Professor Spurrier said it was initially thought the wastewater result involved someone who had previously had an infection, while in hotel quarantine, but was still shedding the virus after release.
"In retrospect...it's likely that the family with this older gentleman was responsible for that positive," she said.
