South Australia is facing a COVID-19 emergency with the virus escaping from hotel quarantine after a worker infected family members. The Chief Health Officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, says people have been ordered into quarantine, including patients and staff of the Lyell McEwin Hospital where an 80 year old woman had a COVID test on Saturday.
Two of the woman's close contacts have also tested positive, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 60s, and one of them works at one of the quarantine hotels in Adelaide's central business district.
A staff member at the Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide's northern suburbs is infected and South Australia's Correctional Services has set up a rapid response and is assisting with contact tracing.
Having the virus escape from hotel quarantine and spread through the community was what triggered Victoria's devastating second wave which saw hundreds of people die, businesses forced to shut and Victorians endure stringent COVID-19 mitigation measures, including curfews, compulsory face coverings and travel restrictions.
Professor Spurrier says more cases are likely.
I'm expecting that we will have more cases which is absolutely why I am urging South Australians, this is a wake up call, if you've got respiratory symptoms, you've got to get tested.
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