Premier ‘scrutinises’ SA’s mask, quarantine rules
Premier Peter Malinauskas has met with the state emergency coordinator and chief public health officer to “scrutinise” South Australia’s quarantine and mask-wearing rules, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the state to declare an emergency.
Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskas at this month's SA Press Club debate. Photo: Tony Lewis / InDaily
On his first official day after being sworn-in as South Australia’s 47th premier, Malinauskas sat down with state emergency coordinator Grant Stevens, chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier, incoming Health Minister Chris Picton, SA Health chief Chris McGowan and Department of the Premier and Cabinet chief Nick Reade to discuss the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ahead of the meeting, Malinauskas told reporters he would “thoroughly scrutinise” the health advice that is keeping quarantine and mask-wearing rules in place, saying the public “deserve to know” why South Australia has stricter restrictions in place compared to other states.
“I’ve always said if I became premier I would follow the health advice,” he said.
“As premier you get a lot more access to information than you do as opposition leader.
“That brings with it a responsibility to scrutinise all the information.”
Cameras were allowed into the meeting briefly at the start, but the rest of the discussions took place behind closed doors.
Malinauskas did not provide comment after the meeting finished, but an announcement is likely today – the second anniversary of the state’s major emergency declaration.
During the election campaign, Malinauskas promised to chair the now-defunct transition committee if he formed government.
At the time, he said a premier should not sit outside the meeting room waiting to be told what was happening, given the broad impact of COVID-19 restrictions on people’s lives.
It comes as South Australians face hours-long queues at some PCR testing sites, with 10,173 people getting swabbed on Sunday.
In an update yesterday afternoon, SA Health said it would take between one to two hours to get tested at the Victoria Park testing site, however, those seeking to get tested reported longer wait times.
After recording a surge in COVID-19 cases late last week, South Australia recorded just 3121 new infections on Monday.
Just under 50 per cent of those predicted to be the highly-transmissible Omicron BA.2 subvariant.
The number of people with COVID-19 in hospital increased to 150, including nine people in intensive care and two people on a ventilator.
