Six-day lockdown in South Australia
South Australia will face significant COVID-19 restrictions for six days to provide a “circuit breaker” and help stop a potential second wave.
From midnight tonight, South Australians will be restricted from leaving their homes with only one person per household able to leave once per day, for specific purposes. A further 8-days of lighter restrictions will follow.
Premier Steven Marshall said the wide-ranging restrictions aim to “significantly reduce mobility” and take swift and decisive action to “stamp out” this virus in order to protect SA’s economy.
Some of the restrictions that apply to our tourism and hospitality industry, are listed below.
For a full list, please see the State Government’s official COVID-19 information site at covid-19.sa.gov.au.
From midnight tonight, 18 November 2020, for six days:
- Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés, including takeaway food – will be closed
- Regional travel is not approved. Those currently in regions are advised to consider where they wish to stay for the next six days and make their way there
- Holiday homes will not be available for lease or rental
- Wedding and funerals will be banned for six days.
In addition, masks will be required in all areas outside of the home from midnight tonight.
It was Easter earlier this year, when for the first time, the SATC encouraged South Australians to stay at home and to not travel within our state. As the Premier and SA Health’s chief medical officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said today, these restrictions aim to significantly reduce mobility and aim to be in place for only six days. It is a tough, swift and decisive call which aims to reduce the time of lockdown and protect our state’s economy in the longer term, so I would urge you all to do our bit.
In response to today’s announcement, I can also confirm that the SATC has ceased all marketing and partner activity. We will now consolidate our efforts and determine what is the most important support we can offer the sector at this difficult time.
I can also confirm that the rules around the Great State vouchers have been relaxed, in light of today's news. The decision has been made to extend the travel period until 30 March 2021. This is applicable to pre-existing bookings only, and the same terms and conditions still apply – Saturday nights are excluded.
If you are an operator and have any questions, please contact our Great State voucher team at [email protected]. We have also updated our consumer website to reflect more broadly, the latest travel advice for consumers southaustralia.com/alerts/covid-19.
We will continue to communicate any significant changes from SA Health or SAPOL. It is obviously not the news we wanted to hear today. Our sector was just showing some positive signs of recovery – but what I do know is that we have been here before, and we bounced back, so we can certainly do it again.
Stay safe and look after one another.
Rodney Harrex
Chief Executive
