SOUTH Australian Labor has raised concerns about the lack of detail about retrospective COVID-19 testing for travellers who crossed the border into the state before last week’s hard border closure.
Yesterday, Premier Steven Marshall announced COVID-19 testing would be mandatory for people who enter South Australia via Victoria from Saturday.
But the state opposition has questioned by the mandatory testing was not retrospectively applied to the 1300 people who came from Victoria last week.
Labor parliamentarian Clare Scriven said Limestone Coast residents want to be assured the people who entered South Australia from Victoria have been tested for COVID-19
“We know that many people crossed the border into the South East last week before the deadline,” she said.
“We know there are at least four active cases in western Victoria.
“The SA Government should have been insisting on mandatory testing before now, to protect our local communities who have been trying so hard to do the right thing.”
Last week, Mr Marshall said there would be a follow up with everyone who crossed the border from Victoria to ensure they were getting tested.
He said phone calls would be made to all returned South Australians within 24 hours to check the test has been completed.
However, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told a media conference there was no particular follow up by this time by police, saying it was a SA Health requirement.
When asked at the same media conference, SA Health deputy chief public health officer Dr Michael Cusack said he did not have information about the process.
Shadow Health and Wellbeing Minister Chris Picton has urged the government to release statistics on the compliance activities, including how many people have been checked and how many have been tested.
