The six-day lockdown comes into force from midnight
South Australia is set to enter a strict six-day lockdown from tonight in a bid to curb a growing COVID-19 cluster.
Businesses across the state are bracing for hardship as the measures come into place.
People will be restricted from leaving the house, with only one person per household allowed out each day and only for a set of specific circumstances.
Exercise will be banned outside the house and all schools, pubs, cafes, restaurants and universities will be forced to close.
Announcing the shutdown, SA Premier Steven Marshall said the state was going hard and early to prevent the Adelaide cluster from becoming a second wave.
"Time is of the essence. And we must act swiftly and decisively, we cannot wait to see how bad this becomes," he said.
"We need a circuit-breaker to stay ahead of this. We need breathing space for a contact tracing blitz to protect the elderly, to protect the vulnerable, to protect our entire community.”
The new measures will hit employers particularly hard as they are forced to put return to work strategies on hold.
The Parafield cluster has grown to 22 cases, with an additional seven people awaiting test results.
Business SA chief executive Martin Haese said companies will feel the brunt of the lockdown from as early as tomorrow.
He told ABC24: “Nonetheless, it is a short-term period.
“Hopefully this interruption, this disruption, will basically circuit break the outbreak in South Australia and by next Wednesday we will be back in business, so fingers crossed.”
He said business confidence in SA had bounced back to pre-pandemic levels but the new measures would have an immediate impact.
The state had returned to a sense of normality, with most businesses open and a jump in the number of employees returning to offices.
But the fast-growing cluster has acted as a warning to other employers across Australia, demonstrating how quickly the situation can change.
