COVID-19 Health System Response Strategy

SA Heath has plans for managing COVID-19 cases in South Australia’s hospital system and in the community to ensure that demand can be managed across the state.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant South Australia has seen an increased number of cases but the majority of people who are COVID-19 positive have been able to be safely treated at home rather than in hospital. Currently, less than 1% of cases have required hospitalisation, but the volume of cases is much higher.

The acute health system remains ready to respond to surges in cases and hospitalisations, guided by whole-of-system response strategies.

The system-wide response pathway outlines how and where patients will receive care. It is focused on providing the right care, in the right location, at the right time and includes a broad system response, including:

  • COVID-19 Testing Sites continuing to test and provide results to South Australians and the SA Health contact tracing team, and the COVID Response Care Team.
  • COVID-19 Contact Tracers prioritising those cases that are high-risk to the community, with a focus on high-risk settings and outbreak management.
  • Mainstream GP Clinics continuing to support patients with non-COVID-19 health needs and symptomatic and mild COVID-19 symptoms with escalation pathways.
  • GP Respiratory Clinics and Respiratory-Ready GP Clinics supporting patients with respiratory health needs, including examining, assessing and treating COVID-19 symptoms.
  • COVID Care Centres providing short-stay treatment options for people who need extra health support but don’t need to be hospitalised.