Restrictions in South Australia are set to ease as the state’s daily Covid-19 cases continue to decrease each day.
Premier Steven Marshall addressed the media after the state’s Covid-ready committee meeting on Friday.
He announced hospitality venues would be able to operate at 50 per cent capacity with indoor seated dining and drinking as of 12.01am on Saturday morning — an increase from the one per four sqm density rule that’s in place.
Elective surgery for children will also be permitted and can be scheduled from next week.
It was also announced that QR code check-ins will no longer be required in retail settings but will still remain for hospitality venues and high risk settings, like aged care centres.
“We can't just let it rip but we can gradually increase the number of people moving around,” Mr Marshall said.
“The hospitality sector has been doing extraordinarily tough … It is safe to go back to hospitality (venues).”
The premier said the further easing of restrictions would be discussed in future meetings with the fitness sector next to be considered.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the state may be seen as “conservative” with its level of restrictions but said SA’s management of the virus spoke for itself.
“We are taking considered steps towards getting back to normal as quickly as possible and as safely as possible,” he said.
“The goal is not to create a second wave.”
It comes as the state recorded 1846 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths over the past 24 hours.
The total number of active cases continue to fall, now at 24,612.
It was only yesterday the premier said authorities had “concerns” about the level of restrictions on the hospitality industry and believed it would be the first sector to have density requirements relaxed.
Workers were also encouraged to start returning to the office at 25 per cent capacity on Thursday as the premier relaxed the work from home advice.
About a month ago, residents were told to work from home where possible to limit the spread of Omicron.
“It is crippling on small businesses having those density requirements in place so that will be our highest priority,” Mr Marshall said yesterday.
“(But) we don’t want a significant second wave.”
On Thursday, 1953 new cases and 13 deaths were reported.
