State has just 12 covid positive rooms left

Speaking on ABC Radio on Tuesday morning, Nicola Spurrier’s comments came as the state recorded 14 new coronavirus infections on Monday; all returned travellers from overseas in medi hotels.

Professor Spurrier said that large number was not “unexpected” because there was a flight from Malaysia scheduled to land in SA on Saturday.

She said hotel workers at Tom’s Court, including nursing staff, worked on Friday to “reshuffle” guests to make additional room.

Professor Spurrier added there were “a few flights” scheduled to land in SA in recent days but they would be diverted to other states.

“I’m pleased to say we’ve been able to accommodate these additional cases,” she said.

“Obviously, if you keep on getting 14 cases a day you’re not going to be able to manage that, but we’ve been given a reprieve with flights.

“It gives us a chance for some people in Tom’s Court to be discharged and takes a little bit of pressure off us for that period of time.”

When asked the total number of active cases that could be safely managed with current resources, Professor Spurrier explained it was dependent on how sick people were and the family grouping.

She said there were 12 available rooms left in the state’s dedicated COVID-positive facility, what she described as “a reasonable amount of capacity”.

“We try and have the guests at either end of the hotel,” she said.

“That reduces the viral load that can concentrate the passageway but if we had to increase our capacity then we have to shift our guests around which is what we did on Friday.

“We don’t have people squished and about to burst at the seams.

“The nurses are comfortable with how things are going at the moment and we’re expecting some discharges over coming days as well.”

There are currently 32 active cases in the state, with two infected people residing in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.