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SA sticking with plan to reopen borders

Emily CosenzaAAP
Premier Steven Marshall is sticking with the plan to reopen South Australia's borders on July 20.
Camera IconPremier Steven Marshall is sticking with the plan to reopen South Australia's borders on July 20.

South Australia is likely to drop its blanket approach to border restrictions and look to target travellers from hot spots as it moves to further lift coronavirus measures.

Premier Steven Marshall says the state is sticking to its plan to reopen all borders on July 20 and could consider lifting restrictions for the ACT, Broken Hill and western Victoria even sooner.

What measures remain in place are likely to apply only to those places where COVID-19 cases have spiked.

"We're gradually moving to put restrictions in place around identified hot spots, rather than blanket restrictions by states or territories," Mr Marshall said on Friday.

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"There will be some time until they get their new infections under control but ... we feel very confident Victoria will get on top of their problems."

With 30 new cases reported in Victoria on Friday, Mr Marshall said SA would continue to monitor its progress.

SA has already lifted border restrictions for Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said people need to be realistic about the time taken to bring case numbers down in Victoria.

"You can't turn community transmission off like a switch," he said.

"I'd be pleasantly surprised if Victoria could get to positive cases in single figures in two weeks.

"SA and a number of other states are working with them to bring down their cases but it will take time."

On Monday, South Australia will move to stage three of lifting coronavirus measures which includes relaxing density requirements for pubs, bars and restaurants with one person allowed for every two square metres.

Large venues such as Adelaide Oval will be free to cater for up to 50 per cent of their normal capacity, provided health officials have approved their COVID-19 safety plans.

The Adelaide Casino will also reopen.

On Friday, SA again reported no new COVID-19 cases with the last confirmed infection about a month ago.

However, Mr Wade said some new cases were possible among the several hundred Australians due to fly into Adelaide from India over the weekend.

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