How a pizza worker’s lie triggered South Australia’s strictest lockdown?

Team Udayavani, Nov 23, 2020, 2:19 PM IST

South Australia decided to enter a state-wide lockdown based on a lie told by a man with Covid-19 about his link to a pizza shop

The announcement came just two days after the state government ordered people to stay at home and shut many businesses to combat what was considered a highly contagious outbreak of coronavirus.

Initially authorities believed the man, who also worked as a security guard at a quarantine hotel, got infected during a brief exposure, leading them to think that the strain must be very contagious.

It was later revealed that the man not only worked as a security guard but also did a part-time job at the Woodville Pizza Bar.

The man had deliberately misled contact-tracing investigators by claiming that he was just a customer at the restaurant, when he had actually worked several shifts there alongside another worker who had tested positive for Covid-19.

According to Reuters, he had been infected after coming in contact with a traveller who was returning to the country from the United Kingdom. South Australian authorities have said that the lockdown could have been avoided if the man had just been honest about working at the pizza parlour.