Four deaths and less than 1,000 cases: COVID-19 by the numbers in SA ahead of the November 23 reopening
By Eugene BoisvertSouth Australian authorities predict about 13 deaths — but up to as many as 51 — in the wake of the state reopening its borders to NSW, Victoria and the ACT tomorrow — letting COVID-19 into a jurisdiction that has largely avoided the ravages of the virus.
Since the start of the pandemic last March, SA Health has reported four deaths and 922 cases in the state.
More than 5,000 COVID-19 cases are predicted in the 300 days from November 23 under modelling results released earlier this month.
Deaths
The last COVID-19 death reported in South Australia happened on April 12, 2020.
The 74-year-old man died after contracting the virus on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
The other three deaths were reported in the five days before that — one was a woman from the Ruby Princess, one caught the coronavirus interstate and the fourth was infected by a group of tourists who visited the Barossa Valley.
It was in this period — late March and early April 2020 — that the state recorded its most active cases and most new cases in one day.
The most active cases was on April 4 — when there were 361 — and the most new cases was 38 on March 26.
The most hospitalisations was 23 on April 1 and the most in an intensive care unit was 10 on April 6.
Clusters
Apart from the 86 cases in South Australia linked with the Ruby Princess, the other largest cluster was 40 cases connected with two groups of tourists who visited the Barossa Valley in March 2020.
The tourists visited the area from the US and Switzerland.
It resulted in schools closing and restrictions on travel from the wine-growing area.
The Parafield cluster in November 2020 resulted in a lockdown that was cut short after it was revealed a pizza bar worker lied about his contact with other cases, making authorities believe the strain they were dealing with was more virulent than it was.
Thirty-three people were infected in the cluster.
A similar number was infected in connection with Adelaide Airport baggage handlers in May 2020, while 22 were connected with the Modbury cluster in July 2021.
That last cluster also resulted in a seven-day lockdown that effectively cut short the outbreak.
Testing and check-ins
Outside of outbreak periods, the number of coronavirus tests done each day in South Australia has hovered between 2,000 and 6,000.
The highest number of tests one day was 23,719 on July 24, 2021, during the Modbury outbreak, when busy locations such as the Westfield Tea Tree Plaza and Burnside Village shopping centres were named as exposure sites.
During the November 2020 Parafield cluster, the number of tests peaked at 17,406.
Since December 2020, South Australians have been required to check-in using QR codes at businesses and other venues.
The peak number of check-ins using the mySA GOV app was on September 3, 2021, when 2.39 million marked their attendance at the locations.
The number has been declining since that time despite QR check-ins now being required on public transport since August.
Numbers generally peak on Fridays and trough on Sundays, along with public holidays.
The lowest number of check-ins was on Christmas Day 2020.