South Australia will move into lockdown from 6pm tonight.
Premier Steven Marshall said the lockdown will last for at least seven days.
The lockdown announcement comes after the state introduced harsher restrictions that came into effect today, which sees venues limited to outdoor dining.
“It’s certainly effectively a lockdown by another name — by the limitation of food and beverage to be provided outside only in the middle of winter is effectively to say the vast majority of operators simply won’t be able to operate,” says Ian Horne, Australian Hotels Association SA general manager.
Outdoor dining will be short lived, with venues only able to offer takeaway and delivery services from tonight.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s lockdown has been extended for seven days.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews commented on the length of the lockdown yesterday, saying: “the signs are positive, but we’ll need more time to be certain that when we open, we can stay open”.
The Premier said that the number of cases, chains of transmission and whether the cases are linked or not are all taken into consideration when making decisions regarding the length of lockdowns.
“It’ll be based on the best information, the most complete set of facts that we can possibly pull together,” said Premier Andrews.
Image credit: City of Adelaide
