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Premier Steven Marshall has announced today that fully vaccinated South Australians will only need to undertake a quarantine period of seven days if they are identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 case, under new rules when state borders reopen on 23 November.
However, the Premier noted those who are unvaccinated still will be required to complete the full 14 days of quarantine if they are found to be a close contact in an exposure site.
From next Tuesday, SA will welcome fully vaccinated travellers from New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. Travellers from Queensland, WA and Tasmania are already permitted to travel into the state.
The Premier expects that 80 per cent of South Australians aged 16 and over will be fully vaccinated by 23 November.
“We've always said we wanted to give certainty and clarity. So, we will be lifting those borders on [23 November]. I expect that we will be at that 80 per cent,” he said.
“We're trying to have a more bespoke, tailored approach away from the approach that we had previously which was very heavy handed where everybody who was a close or casual contact needed to go into quarantine.”
In the next phase, businesses will no longer need to close down for deep cleaning following exposure in their site, as the type of cleaning required will be reduced to what the Premier describes as “a significantly lower level.”
The Communicable Diseases Control branch will be tasked with risk assessment on outbreaks and provide advice to individuals and businesses about the people who will need to go into isolation.
As part of SA's COVID-ready plan, the state has made 392 extra beds and treatment spaces available and have recruited up to 1,920 doctors, nurses, ambulance officers and health staff.
No changes to public health and social measures will be made in SA until 90 per cent of South Australians aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated.
The second-dose vaccination rate in SA currently stands at 73.9 per cent.
“Achieving high vaccination rates is a key part of our strong plan to be COVID-ready and South Australia’s pandemic control going forward,” said the Premier
Not only will it reduce time in quarantine, it is the best way for people to protect themselves, their loved ones and the community from this nasty disease.”
Updated at 05.03pm AEDT on 15 November 2021.
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