‘Lie’ by pizza worker led to South Australia shutdown

SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S drastic six-day Covid lockdown was triggered by a “lie” told to contact tracers from a man who tested positive, authorities said yesterday. As a result restrictions are set to be lifted much sooner than first planned.

The shock announcement came just two days after the state government ordered people to stay at home and shut many businesses to combat what was considered a highly contagious outbreak of coronavirus.

Steven Marshall, the state premier, told a media conference in Adelaide that one man at a pizza bar linked to the outbreak told officials he had only bought a pizza there, when he had actually worked shifts at the outlet alongside another worker who tested positive.

Authorities assumed the man, who wasn’t named, had caught the virus during a very short exposure, leading them to believe the strain must be highly contagious.

“Their [the man’s] story didn’t add up. We pursued them. We now know that they lied,” Mr Marshall said. “Had this person been truthful to the contact tracing teams, we would not have gone into a six-day lockdown.”

“To say I am fuming about the actions of this individual is an absolute understatement. The selfish actions of this individual have put our whole state in a very difficult situation.”

While the outbreak was still worrying, Mr Marshall said restrictions would be lifted early, with the stay-at-home order ending at midnight today.

Asked what punishment the individual might face, Grant Stevens, the state’s police commissioner, said there was “no

‘The selfish actions of this individual have put our whole state in a very difficult situation’

penalty” for lying to tracers under the current law, though that was likely to be reviewed. “I think it is stating the obvious to say that this person’s actions have had a devastating impact on our community,” he said.

Mr Stevens said a team reviewing information provided by the man to contract tracers wasn’t satisfied with “the feeling they got from this”. He would not be drawn on the man’s motivation for misleading contact tracers.

South Australia has recorded 25 cases from the latest cluster, which was linked to a returned traveller from the UK.