Officials in South Australia have revealed that an apparent lie triggered the harshest coronavirus lockdown in the country, after contact tracers were led to believe that someone was infected by a highly contagious new strain of Covid-19.

The lockdown will now be lifted just two days after it was announced, following news of the false alarm.

The state announced the urgent introduction of lockdown measures for six days on Wednesday after a cluster with 36 infections was detected, including a locally acquired case. The government ordered people to stay at home and shut businesses to combat what was considered a highly contagious outbreak of Covid-19.

South Australia state Premier Steven Marshall told a media conference in Adelaide that one man at a pizza bar tied to the outbreak told contact tracers he had only bought a pizza there, after which he tested positive.

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Authorities assumed the man, who has not been named, was infected after only the briefest of exposures, leading them to fear the worst about the strain of virus involved.

But upon further questioning, it turned out the man had actually worked several shifts at the food outlet alongside another worker who tested positive.

Read more: yahoo