MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2020) Australia's state of South Australia will lift the coronavirus-related lockdown three days earlier than scheduled after a worker of a local pizzeria was caught deliberately lying to the authorities about his contacts and exposure to the virus, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said on Friday.
South Australia declared a six-day lockdown on Wednesday for the authorities to carry out contact tracing in a timely manner amid an accelerated spread of the coronavirus. All businesses, schools and mass ceremonies were suspended. Since then, the authorities carried out investigations to establish chains of infection.
"What those investigations showed is that one of the close contacts linked to the Woodville Pizza Bar deliberately misled our contact tracing team. This story didn't add up. We pursued them. We now know that they lied," Marshall said at a press conference.
The man told the authorities that he had contracted the virus after purchasing pizza at the store while in actuality he worked there. This means that his exposure to the virus was much broader, and Marshall said that contact tracers were already on it, seeking to locate and isolate "thousands of people who may have had dangerous contact at the Woodville Pizza Bar."
"Just as we have acted immediately to put restrictions in place to keep South Australians safe, we are going to act to lift them much sooner than previously advised. I will not let the disgraceful conduct of a single individual to keep South Australia in this circuit breaker conditions one day longer than what is necessary," Marshall said, adding that "Effective immediately, exercise in family groups is now permitted, and effective as of midnight on Saturday [13:30 Friday, GMT], the stay at home order will be repealed."
The South Australian authorities will still kept in place some of the restrictions regarding the number of people allowed to gather in groups in various settings. For example, attendance at funerals will be limited to 50 people and at private home gatherings to 10 people.
Australia has no legislation in place to hold the man who lied accountable, but the premier said he was "fuming" about their actions.
As of Friday, Australia's total cumulative coronavirus toll is 27,784 cases and 907 deaths, of which South Australia accounts for 550 cases and four deaths.
