South Australia is to conduct a home quarantine trial, an Australian-first that could increase the State’s capacity to safely and securely quarantine people at home.
Premier Steven Marshall said the trial would see 50 South Australian residents, returning from interstate, undertake their mandatory 14 days of quarantine in the comfort of their own homes.
Mr Marshall said the home quarantine trial was enabled by the Home Quarantine SA app, where people could access their testing schedule, complete daily symptom checks, access health and wellbeing resources and confirm their location with regular check-ins.
He said the app provided geolocation and live face-recognition to ensure people were compliant with their home quarantine direction and were at their approved home quarantine address.
“We know the critical role quarantine plays in reducing the risk of COVID outbreaks stemming from travellers returning to our State, and we are steadfast in ensuring this layer of protection is upheld,” Mr Marshall said.
“South Australians should be proud of the way we have responded to the many and varied difficulties this awful virus has presented, and we hope this trial leads to improved outcomes for those of us that may need to quarantine in the future,” he said.
Mr Marshall said eligible participants would be provided with a personalised admission code that granted them access to the app, enabling them to initiate the process of home quarantine.
The Premier said it was envisaged that the new app would join COVID Safe Check In as a secure and effective tool to help keep South Australians safe.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said the home quarantine trial had been developed in close consultation with SA Health.
Dr Kirkpatrick said the trial commenced last week (23 August), initially with a small number of participants who were all South Australian residents and had opted into the trial.
