South Australia's COVID-19 emergency management provisions are set to continue for another month, but that could be the last extension, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says.
Mr Stevens said he had requested the provisions, which give him the power to impose restrictions and take a range of other steps he considers necessary, be extended for another 28 days, which would take the emergency declaration to the first week in April.
"This is a live consideration for us in relation to when the appropriate time will be to lift that major emergency declaration," he said.
"I don't think that time is now, but clearly we are closely watching.
"It is possible that this current application for an extension could be the last one.
"But we'll have to assess the circumstances as we move through the next 28-day period."
The commissioner said the most important consideration would be confidence that the state's hospital system was coping with the level of COVID-19 in the community.
He said authorities were also reviewing a range of remaining virus restrictions and changes in the next few weeks that could leave SA with a level of baseline measures that would stay in place for some time.
An end to emergency provisions would also bring an end to vaccine mandates in SA, although individual sectors like health could seek to maintain vaccine rules using other legislation, such as industrial laws.
The commissioner's comments came as coronavirus case numbers spiked in SA, with the daily tally topping 2000 for the first time in more than a month.
SA Health reported 2075 new infections on Wednesday, the highest figure since 2401 were recorded on January 26.
There are 112 people in hospital, including nine in intensive care. One person is on a ventilator.
Two more deaths were also revealed - a man in his 50s and a man in his 70s - taking the COVID-19 related toll since the start of the pandemic to 181.
Active infections across SA stand at 16,938.
Wednesday's figures also came as Premier Steven Marshall ruled out any immediate change for isolation rules in relation to positive cases in schools.
Under present arrangements, parents of children who contract the virus are required to isolate for up to 14 days as close contacts.
Mr Marshall said while COVID-19 was having a significant impact on some individual schools and families, the rules were necessary to ensure the virus "doesn't get away from us".
"We're seeing the numbers stabilise in South Australia. In fact we're seeing the numbers in our hospitals reducing," he said.
"When we look at the impact on schools in South Australia, in total we're very much at the lower end of disruption compared to other states because we do have some very strict controls in place so it doesn't get away from us."
