South Australia’s emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic ended on Tuesday after 793 days in operation, by far the longest state of emergency in South Australian history.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Premier Peter Malinauskas said Police Commissioner Grant Stevens signed a revocation of the declaration under the Emergency Management Act following an executive council meeting, meaning that the commissioner no longer has the power to implement measures such as lockdowns or mask mandates for the greater public.
“We have seen the South Australian police force step up to the plate when it’s come to the management of COVID along with other agencies, but I’m not sure if South Australians fully comprehend the level of power and authority that is invested in the state co-ordinator when an emergency declaration occurs,” he said.
“Those powers are extraordinary. They give the police commissioner the ability to do things that would otherwise be somewhat incomprehensible.”
A state of emergency would normally only be declared for natural disasters such as severe bushfires or floods.
Malinauskas said that Commissioner Stevens had to make some of the most difficult judgement calls in the history of the state, and the premier commended Stevens, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier, and former premier Steven Marshall on their handling of it.
This lifting of the emergency declaration comes as authorities are confident sufficient measures are in place to maintain the current level of community protection, including new amendments to the Public Health Act.
These amendments, which passed parliament on Thursday, allow the continuation of measures such as mandatory vaccination, mask-wearing, and other infection control measures in high-risk settings such as hospitals, aged and disability care, and other healthcare settings.
“Essentially, the Public Health Act amendments mean that from this point onward, restrictions can only be reduced, not increased,” Malinauskas said.
“The amendments to the Public Health Act mean that the level of restrictions we now have at the moment is the baseline from which we would hopefully only see an easing of restrictions.”
However, Malinauskas noted that if a new variant came along and new restrictions or a different style of pandemic management were needed, the state would have to declare another state of emergency.
“But it’s very much our hope, as it is around the world, that of course, the worst of the pandemic has passed, but it would be naive to assume that it definitely has,” he said.
“We have to be alive to the possibility of changes into the future.”
Meanwhile, Malinauskas also announced that the mask mandate in schools will be lifted as of Friday afternoon, but schools will still be required to monitor their case numbers.
In the event that more than ten COVID-19 cases are seen within a classroom, or more than five cases occur across five different classes, the mask mandate will be reinstated for that school.
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