by A case of COVID-19 described by health authorities as “particularly difficult” has put plans for South Australia to reopen its border to Victoria under a cloud.
The South Australian Transition Committee, tasked with considering which restrictions should be eased and in what order, will meet on Friday to discuss cross-border travel.
“We know people are anxious, they want to know what’s going on and we want to provide that information as quickly as possible,” Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said this week.
He said they were “hopeful” to make some decisions on Friday.
A decision on the SA-Victoria border could be made on Friday. Picture: Tait Schmaal
SA Premier Steven Marshall on Thursday said they are probing the origin of the new case – a returning female resident in her 20s who tested positive in quarantine within 24 hours of arrival from Melbourne.
She flew into Adelaide Airport on Monday and authorities revealed her test result on Wednesday.
The woman is in a medi-hotel.
We are trying to trace back the epilink, the origin of this case, and we hope to have more information tomorrow, Mr Marshall said.
The reality is Victoria is doing very well, another day with zero new cases. We would like to remove all of our restrictions as quickly as we possibly can but we are not going to do it before it is safe to do so.
We will listen to the experts and act promptly as soon as we get the advice. We have got to see the epilink of this particular case and whether that puts us back at all.
Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said it was “a particularly difficult case to sort out”.
The woman, an aged care worker, last worked in the industry in Victoria in mid October.
She tested positive for COVID-19 in August but completed full quarantine and was cleared, meaning authorities are probing whether it is a case of reinfection or virus shedding from her previous infection.
SA Health said it remains under investigation “to determine whether it represents an old infection with ongoing viral shedding”.
At present, travellers who may enter SA from Victoria include students returning from studying, people relocating permanently or for work purposes provided relevant accommodation and/or employment criteria is met, and people passing through to Western Australia or the Northern Territory, provided they can enter that state on arrival.
