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South Australia Bans Dog Walking, Outdoor Exercise; Later Relax Restrictions And Blame Pizza Shop Worker

   DailyWire.com
A woman walks with her dog past autumnally discoloured leaves in the city forest Eilenriede.
Hauke-Christian Dittrich/picture alliance via Getty Images

South Australia underwent a six-day total lockdown starting Thursday that banned residents from even walking their dogs or exercising outdoors.

The harsh lockdown, which allowed only one member of the household permission to leave the residence per day for “essential” activity, has since been somewhat relaxed after officials blamed a single pizza shop worker for allegedly being untruthful to contact tracers.

The severe lockdown garnered attention in the United States on Thursday when the official Twitter account for South Australia Police told a woman she was not allowed to leave her home to walk her dog or exercise. The tweet has since been deleted.

Hey [South Australia Police],” a woman named Andrea said, “for the sake of my stupid husband, who’s doing a #KarenFromBrighton moan, can you please broadcast very specific information about walking the dog. #lockdown.”

In the now-deleted tweet, the police responded: “Hi Andrea, You cannot leave the house to walk the dog or to exercise.”

The South Australian woman thanked the police for replying and moaned about her husband. “Thanks for replying. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell him,” she wrote. “Good work, stay safe too.”

Government officials announced a mild relaxation of the draconian lockdown measures on Friday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

The state government announced an immediate end to a ban on outdoor exercising, while the strict lockdown that saw only one person allowed to leave the house per day for shopping or other essential activities will be lifted three days early.

From Sunday, most businesses will be allowed to reopen with density limits. There will be a limit of 10 people allowed in private homes and up to 100 people will be permitted to attend religious ceremonies. Gyms will also reopen.

Officials have blamed a pizza shop employee for allegedly not disclosing that he worked at the shop where there was an apparent outbreak, instead allegedly telling contract tracers he purchased a pizza from the shop.

“It is claimed the worker told contact tracers he had purchased pizza from Woodville Pizza Bar in Adelaide’s north, when in fact he had actually worked there for several shifts, alongside an infectious hotel security guard linked to the Peppers hotel outbreak,” The Sydney Herald reported. “The man at the centre of the extraordinary developments on Friday was also revealed by authorities to have been a kitchenhand at another quarantine hotel, the Stamford Hotel.”

Australia has made headlines in the U.S. before for their coronavirus-related crackdowns. In October, for example, it was reported that four newborn babies died after they were denied lifesaving treatment due to travel restrictions implemented by Aussie politicians.

“Four Newborns in Adelaide have died after being denied lifesaving heart surgery because it wasn’t available in Adelaide, and they couldn’t be transferred interstate because of travel restrictions,” reported 9News Australia.

Their deaths have sparked outrage from medical professionals in the area demanding change.

“Medical professionals in South Australia are calling for urgent action this morning following shocking revelations of the deaths of four babies,” said a 9News Australia anchor. “The newborns were denied lifesaving heart surgery because it wasn’t available in Adelaide, and they couldn’t be transferred interstate because of travel restrictions.”

“Adelaide is the only capital city in mainland Australia that doesn’t have its own infant cardiac unit,” he noted.

“As one obstetrician said yesterday, ‘I shall leave it to you to image the profound effects of these deaths on the parents,’” the anchor added.

Related: Lockdown Kills: Four Newborn Babies In Australia Die After Travel Restrictions Prevent Them From Receiving Lifesaving Care

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