Riverlanders among new Covid cases

The Riverland has recorded its first new Covid-19 cases in over a year, with four local residents among almost 700 cases announced yesterday.

Two Loxton Waikerie council residents and two people living in the Renmark Paringa Council are currently listed as active cases, according to SA Health's Covid-19 dashboard.

Despite the new cases, SA Health is yet to announce any new Covid-19 exposure locations in the Riverland.

The total number of Riverland cases since the beginning of the pandemic is now 11, with six from Renmark Paringa, two from Berri Barmera and three from Loxton Waikerie.

In a press conference yesterday, Premier Steven Marshall announced 688 new cases across South Australia, with Omicron the dominant strain among cases who had undergone genomic testing.

Mr Marshall also said about 50 per cent of cases announced on Thursday were unvaccinated, despite almost 88 per cent of South Australians over 12 years old being fully vaccinated.

"If you have not been vaccinated yet, or if you are eligible for your second dose or your booster, now is exactly and precisely the time to go and get that vaccination done," he said.

Mr Marshall said a further easing of restrictions previously announced for December 28 had been "postponed into the new year".

"There's just no way at this point when we are very concerned about a very steep increase in new cases... that we can be easing restrictions," he said.

"We are going to continue to monitor the numbers very very closely."

From January 4, booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be available for people over 18 who received their second dose at least four months ago.

Meanwhile, SAPOL removed requirements for casual contacts of Covid-19 cases to undertake a Covid-19 PCR test unless they begin developing symptoms, vaccinated close contacts to undertake a PCR test on the 13th day after exposure, and unvaccinated close contacts to undertake a PCR test on the sixth day after exposure.

Vaccinated close contacts are still required to be tested on the sixth day after their exposure, while unvaccinated contacts need to be tested on the 13th day.

Rapid antigen tests have also been made legal in South Australia as a screening test for people without Covid-19 symptoms.