Coronavirus: South Australia goes on high alert

GBNEWS24 DESK//

South Australian authorities say they are facing a “dangerous situation” after reporting 17 coronavirus cases in the state’s first outbreak since April.

The cluster is thought to have spread from a worker at a hotel quarantine site in Adelaide to infect a large local family, officials said, reports BBC.

The state has closed schools and shops and ramped up contact tracing.

Australia had seen cases drop to near zero after beating its second wave in Victoria.

That state’s capital city, Melbourne, had been the centre of a massive outbreak which caused more than 20,300 cases and 800 deaths.

The city spent almost four months in a stringent lockdown before re-opening last month.

Victoria’s outbreak also originated from a hotel quarantine site.

“It’s obvious that the highest risk in Australia right now is this risk of [virus] importation in our quarantine hotels,” South Australia’s chief health officer Nicola Spurrier said on Monday.

She confirmed one infected person had been working at a quarantine hotel and “this is where we are considering the source to be”.

Australia closed its borders to international travellers in March but has allowed citizens and permanent residents to return home if they undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a hotel.