Speaking after a meeting of the state’s Emergency Management Council this morning, Police Commissioner and state emergency coordinator Grant Stevens said the latest modelling presented to the EMC shows South Australia “hit the peak for case numbers on … the 19^th of last month”.

SA Health reported 5020 COVID-19 cases on July 19, with the number of daily infections not surpassing 5000 since then.

South Australia recorded 2848 cases today – up from 2389 on Monday – and another three COVID-19 deaths. There are currently 352 people in hospital with the virus.

“All of the indications are that we are currently past this current peak,” Stevens told reporters a short time ago.

“So we’re looking like the case numbers are coming down and we’re hopeful that that transitions to a reduction in hospitalisation numbers as well.

“The modelling really only takes us out to about two weeks, but all the signs are positive at this point in time that we are coming down from the current peak.”

Stevens said the July 19 peak date was “exactly what the forecasting indicated would occur”.

“The modelling is pretty good and it gives us some confidence that we should see a reduction in case numbers and that will eventually transpire to less people in hospital,” he said.

Authorities were reluctant to say last week whether South Australia had passed the peak of the current wave, which has been driven by the rise of the more transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants.

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said on Friday it was too early to confirm whether the caseload peak had passed given the return of school might drive a rise in infections among children.

Meanwhile, no changes to the state’s mask mandates came out of today’s EMC meeting, despite the University of South Australia moving yesterday to make masks a requirement for all students and staff on campus.

UniSA said their decision came after Spurrier delivered “specific updated information for the higher education sector” regarding the current wave of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 cases.

Stevens said the EMC had “some discussion about the wearing of masks” but the “position still remains the same that it’s strongly recommended”.

“Obviously there’s the reminder that it is a requirement to wear masks on public transport and we’re hopeful that people understand that obligation and take that action.

Masks remain mandatory in high-risk settings such as hospitals and other health care services, pharmacies, disability and aged care services, along with public transport and on planes.

The state Opposition this morning called for the state government to hand out free masks on public transport to boost uptake.

Stevens said the state government was examining the proposal.

“That’s something that’s being worked on now in terms of whether that can actually be rolled out,” he said.

He also said there will also be “encouragement by people from SA Health attending various interchange locations and supporting people to understand their obligations and make sure that they’re wearing masks”.