South Australian premier Steven Marshall said yesterday the strain of COVID-19 in Adelaide was “particularly sneaky”.
“[It’s a] highly contagious strain … and if we don’t get on top of that very, very quickly it will get away from us and that will be disastrous,” he said.
Earlier this week, SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the virus had a “very, very short incubation period”, infecting people in 24 hours or less.
“The other characteristic of the cases we’ve seen so far is they have had minimal symptoms and sometimes no symptoms but have been able to pass it on to other people,” she said.
But what Spurrier is describing is typical of every strain of COVID-19. There is no evidence to suggest Adelaide’s strain is worse than any other.
What are they talking about?
Adelaide’s COVID-19 strain came from a returned traveller from the UK, then spread to a hotel quarantine cleaner and her family. Twenty-three people have since been infected.
But there’s no evidence to show the UK strain is worse than any other, says Professor Nigel McMillan, director of infectious diseases and immunology at Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
“The fact people are becoming infected quickly isn’t unusual … 40% of people who have the virus don’t show signs of it,” he said.
The virus likely spread quickly because the cleaner had a high viral load — meaning she was shedding more virus particles. This has nothing to do with the strain, and is likely dependent on a person’s immune response, McMillan said.
“There’s nothing unusual from reports I’m seeing about this virus.”
Where’s the evidence?
University of Queensland virology associate professor Ian Mackay told Crikey every version of the virus was a mutant version.
“One person would have a mutated version of COVID-19 to the person sitting next to them,” he said. The differences are so minute, Mackay prefers to call them variants instead of strains.
What matters is whether these mutations have an effect on how the virus behaves. So far, just one strain, D614G, has mutated to a point where it’s a little more effective at spreading. This strain has been circulating in Australia for months.
To be sure, scientists will need to see the virus’ genome sequence. But the SA strain has yet to be uploaded to any databases.
“Once they get that they’ll be able to match it up with other variants around the world and see what else it might be doing,” he said.
Sequencing usually takes a minimum of two days.
Is this an appropriate tactic?
Exaggerating the virus’ danger may be effective at getting people to take precautions, but could be unnecessary, UNSW Sydney ageing and mental health senior research fellow Dr Adrienne Withall told Crikey.
“[Officials are] trying to show people how serious the threat is, especially when we’re reaching a time when fatigue over COVID-19 messaging may have set in,” she said.
At the same time, the government shouldn’t cause undue alarm and hysteria.
“I think the fact we saw toilet paper shortages once again in SA shows that people are still vulnerable to a sense of panic when emotive language is used.”
Thank you Amber for exposing the elephant in the room. The embellishment, exaggeration and stretching of official figures of anything to do with covid has been rampant from both govt and the Industrial Health & Medical Complex. And don’t forget some of the “experts”.
And may I note the lack of comments from some of my fellow commenters. Ahhh yes, they would have to back-track and concede.
It proves how the mis-information juggernaut serves a certain purpose and agenda and that agenda is not always in our best interest.
If it was n’t for the ADF articles of late this would probably have been a Head-Liner.
This is magnificent and courageous journalism from you. No doubt you might have to catch a bit of flack from the uninitiated but all things must come to pass and don’t let it bother you.
Thanks you Crikey for the quality of this journalism.
It’s actually flak, but good comment.
I was amazed at the obtuseness of the SA government.
Why didn’t they just apply Occam’s Razor:
Which of these statements is more likely to be true:
I had thought the same when I heard the “pizza guy lied” as the sole explanation for the lockdown. That said however , the failure of hotel quarantine was what initiated the Victorian experience and with what looked like a similar situation unfolding, they were probably spooked and shut everything down just to be sure as possible of heading off a similar catastrophe. Speaking anecdotally, the Adelaide population appeared to be up for the lockdown as a very necessary inconvenience and I would say it hasn’t done Steven Marshall any harm – yet.
I hear you Sidney Adelaide, but no amount of obfuscating can undo the damage that could have been done. The SA Gov was prepared to lock-down on the basis of a lie?..? The ramifications are frightening and it shines a light on just how much previous covid data may have been bogus if not at least exaggerated.
I have not seen articles like this one from Amber Schultz anywhere else in Australia. At least give her the credit she is due.
Thank you Amber for exposing the elephant in the room. The embellishment, exaggeration and stretching of official figures of anything to do with covid has been rampant from both govt and the Industrial Health & Medical Complex. And don’t forget some of the “experts”.
And may I note the lack of comments from some of my fellow commenters. Ahhh yes, they would have to back-track and concede.
It proves how the mis-information juggernaut serves a certain purpose and agenda and that agenda is not always in our best interest.
If it was n’t for the ADF articles of late this would probably have been a Head-Liner.
This is magnificent and courageous journalism from you. No doubt you might have to catch a bit of flack from the uninitiated but all things must come to pass and don’t let it bother you.
Thanks you Crikey for the quality of this journalism.
Personally I think covid is such a godsend to those in power if it didn’t exist it would have to be made up. It’s a distraction from all their failures, no mean feat in SA, it’s a goldmine for certain businesses, who get fat contracts with almost no strings attached, a great way to reward friends and allies, it punishes small businesses, allowing them to be snapped up by conglomerates, and last but by no means least, it establishes a new norm of govt intervention in everyday life. Do what we say or you die, science says so. Fascism par excellence, and in the space of a few short months. The media has jumped on board in every respect, not a murmur of disapproval, especially the ABC. Sky News, ironically is the only one to have called out the SA Premier. Amazing but true.