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Health

Second truck driver in two days tests positive for COVID-19 after being in South Australia

A truck passes on the other side of the Princes Highway from a COVID testing station in Tailem Bend. (ABC News)

A second truck driver in two days has tested positive for COVID-19 after being in South Australia.

The truck driver in his 30s visited Adelaide from Victoria to buy a truck with a colleague and tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

The pair visited two service stations while in South Australia — the Liberty at Glenunga and the Coles Express at Tailem Bend.

They visited the locations very early in the morning.

Another truck driver who had been in South Australia tested positive for COVID-19 while in Victoria on Wednesday.

A total of 56 close contacts have been connected with the man, including 23 through QR code check-ins.

The Coles Express service station in Tailem Bend which is an exposure site. (ABC News)

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said no other members of the public appeared to be close contacts with the latest truck driver according to QR check-ins.

"At the moment it does not look as though we have particular concerns for ongoing exposures in our state, but we don't usually stop with our initial investigation — we continue to collect information and if we find anything of concern, we will let South Australians know," she said.

The second driver tested negative for COVID-19.

He had received one dose of AstraZeneca, while the other driver had not been vaccinated.

From October 7, truck drivers coming into South Australia from Victoria, NSW or the ACT must have had at least one vaccine dose.

Nicola Spurrier called for people in Tailem Bend to get vaccinated.

Tailem Bend is on National Highway One and has repeatedly been the location of exposure sites.

Professor Spurrier urged everyone in the Murray River town to get vaccinated.

"You are at quite high risk given that is a truck route," she said.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said the second truck driver case in two days showed the "threat is real" from the Delta variant of the virus.

From today, a vaccination clinic for truck drivers in Tailem Bend is open to the public.

"Walk-ins are welcome," Mr Wade said.

From Wednesday, people arriving into the state from Queensland have to get tested on their first, fifth and 13th day in South Australia.

Four people who are in South Australia are quarantining after being at an exposure site in Queensland following the latest spate of cases there.

Do we really need booster vaccines for COVID-19?
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