Queen welcomes SA's COVID-19 success

Queen Elizabeth has praised South Australia's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in a special video call with Premier Steven Marshall and Governor Hieu Van Le.

The call last week, which was released by Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, was organised to mark the unveiling of a new bronze statue of her majesty in the grounds of Government House in Adelaide.

It was cast by SA artist Robert Hannaford, who took part in the call.

Mr Marshall told the Queen that South Australia was "getting almost back to a sense of normality" after restrictions and other measures to combat the coronavirus.

He said it had been a great co-operative effort between the state's health services, the police, the government and the people of SA.

"That sounds very good. It must be very encouraging that they can all get together again," her majesty responded.

Mr Le told the 94-year-old monarch the new life-size statue had become a popular place for visitors to take pictures, offering them a chance to feel "very close to you".

The Queen seemed somewhat surprised and joked that "it might be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window".

"Gracious, has she arrived unexpectedly?" she said.

Mr Hannaford also presented the Queen with a smaller version of the statue.