By Raquel Mustillo
RESIDENTS in the Mount Gambier, Grant and Wattle Range local government areas will have “severe restrictions” for at least seven days as the state’s authorities continue to investigate the movements of Covid-19 positive Mount Gambier woman.
At a press conference held this afternoon, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said density requirements will revert back to one person per four square metres in all venues and home gatherings will be restricted to two visitors above those people who normally live there.
Comm Stevens said mask wearing will continue to be compulsory in indoor public areas and high risk settings.
He said private gatherings will be restricted to a maximum of 10 people, sport participation and spectating will be banned, and all private functions will be cancelled.
“The purpose of this is to dramatically reduce the movement within these local government areas while the investigation continues into the movement of this particular woman and her family so we can be sure we’re on top of this from a contact tracing point of view,” Comm Stevens said.
“At this stage, we’re looking at a minimum of seven days.
“It will take that amount of time to firstly complete the contact tracing activities, but also for any indications for community spread to become apparent.
“We are still doing inquiries in relation to the person’s movements… we don’t have enough information at this time to be absolutely clear on the movements.”
Comm Stevens said there will be no restrictions on employment and discouraged anyone from visiting the Mount Gambier, Wattle Range and Grant District council areas.
The restrictions are effective immediately and follows yesterday’s announcement that a 40-year-old woman tested positive after claiming to have visited family in Casterton.
The claim has since been rejected by Casterton Memorial Hospital chief executive Owen Stephens, who sent an all-staff email earlier today that said the contact “has been found to be a non-truth”.
South Australian chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said she was unable to confirm whether the woman actually visited Casterton, which was located within the former 70km cross-border bubble until Sunday night.
“There are a number of reasons why people don’t tell us absolutely what those people have been up to,” she said.
“They might be frightened or they might be anxious.
“The fact she went in and got tested meant we’ve been able to do this contact tracing and we’ve got her and her family in quarantine.
“Please think about that sort of wider context.”
Prof Spurrier said there had been 12 primary contacts identified with the Mount Gambier woman, with 10 tests returning negative Covid-19 results.
She said 21 secondary contacts had been identified, and five tests had returned negative results.
