SA Health's list of exposure sites has grown — almost a week after it was last updated — with a Hindley Street nightclub being added to the list.
Key points:
- Three locations have been added to SA Health's exposure sites list, including the Dog and Duck nightclub
- The exposure sites table had not been updated for almost a week
- SA's opposition has been critical of the delays, saying contact tracing clearly isn't "up to the mark"
Previous delays to updating the list have prompted backlash, with a social media group attracting thousands of followers after taking contact tracing into its own hands by crowdsourcing exposure sites.
But SA Health has since confirmed it was in the process of overhauling its contact tracing practices and would not be listing every site attended by a confirmed case.
Instead, exposure sites that are also deemed "high-risk settings" would be prioritised, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said.
"The rapid rise in the number of cases in South Australia means that it is not practical to list every site where every positive case has visited, and we have changed the way we report public exposure locations accordingly," Professor Spurrier said.
Late on Sunday night, SA Health added three close contact locations, including the Dog and Duck nightclub between 10pm and 11pm on New Year's Eve.
The Exchange Hotel in Gawler was also listed as an exposure on Sunday night — a week after a case was at the hotel.
The third location was the West Augusta Football Club Gym in Port Augusta, which was exposed at different times between December 28 and December 30.
The Dog and Duck had advertised its New Year's Eve celebrations by having a dig at current caps on home gatherings.
"Hindley Street is open, why party with 10 mates, when you can celebrate with hundreds?" the nightclub posted on social media.
The Dog and Duck's Facebook page has also been critical of Premier Steven Marshall's handling of COVID, and of restrictions imposed on hospitality venues on Boxing Day.
Current restrictions mean hospitality venues are only allowed to operate at a rate of one person per 4 square metres.
On December 27, the club posted a question to the Premier on its Facebook page.
"Question, Steven Marshall you stated six weeks ago, 'we have 400 beds ready to go for COVID related patients' now we have 20 people hospitalised and you have brought restrictions in that effectively put us back in lock down because we can't let this get out of hand," the post read.
"It doesn't add up to us. Are we living with it or is your government not ready still?"
The nightclub was also critical of the response to the Loverboy nightclub incident, where a 19-year-old man attended the nightclub despite knowing he was COVID-positive.
Although patrons and staff were double vaccinated, anyone at the venue on the night of the exposure had to be tested and isolate for seven days.
On December 24 the Dog and Duck posted on Facebook that this was crippling to businesses which would be forced to close while their staff isolated.
"If you have a business or know someone who has a business, there is a great chance that business won't survive the next two months," the post said.
On Sunday, the SA opposition was severely critical of delays to updating the state's exposure site list.
"It has now been almost a week since we've had any exposure sites notified," Labor health spokesman Chris Picton said.
"We've had thousands and thousands of cases in the last week but we haven't seen for many, many days now an exposure site listed.
"There are significant numbers of exposure sites but our contact tracing clearly hasn't been up to the mark."
In a statement, SA Health said it was overhauling its contact tracing practices and would not be listing every site attended by a confirmed case.
Instead, Professor Spurrier said SA Health would prioritise sites deemed high-risk.
"As the pandemic evolves, we will be making further adjustments to our contact tracing and these changes will be foreshadowed when required," Professor Spurrier said in a statement.
"Exposure sites will only be publicly listed on the SA Health website if they are a high-risk setting, there has been confirmed transmission at this site (multiple cases), or if there is a specific group of people considered more vulnerable to COVID-19 at this site.
"Low-risk settings such as large indoor spaces, for example, supermarkets, and outdoor settings will not be publicly listed."
Professor Spurrier foreshadowed "further adjustments to our contact tracing" as the situation evolved.
You can find information on testing site hours and the nearest site to you on the SA Health website.