Three more people have died, taking SA's toll since the start of the pandemic to 120.

Premier Steven Marshall said the death toll was too high but the state was clearly over the peak of the current Omicron outbreak.

"The last two years have been an extraordinarily tough time for all South Australians," the premier told reporters on Tuesday.

"We can't be complacent but most South Australians can feel a great sense of pride in the way that we have worked together.

"There is an opportunity to look forward with optimism."

South Australia has 273 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 22 in intensive care and five on ventilators.

Active cases have dropped to 18,928 with the state's seven-day average down to 1763.

Case numbers have fallen each day for the past week.

The latest figures came as state parliament's COVID-19 Response Committee was told that 60 per cent of retail workers had reported increasing abuse from customers after case numbers rose around Christmas.

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association state secretary Josh Peak said a survey of almost 3500 workers had also revealed more than one-third had experienced or witnessed staff being spat or coughed on.

"From panic buying and staffing shortages to rampant customer abuse and COVID idiots to the imminent threat of COVID, retail workers have had enough," Mr Peak said.

"Since the onset of this pandemic, it's been our essential workers on the frontline, like retail workers, who have had to work through while others worked from home.

"Retail workers don't feel protected from the threat of abuse and they don't feel protected from the spread of the virus."

Also on Tuesday, the government revealed plans for the easing of restrictions on elective surgery with day procedures in private hospitals to resume from February 7 and in public hospitals from February 14.

All other elective surgery will resume by February 28.

Mr Marshall said while SA was one of the first states to impose restrictions, it was also among the first to remove them.

"We know that for many people, elective surgery is not particularly elective, with many South Australians needing their procedure sooner rather than later," he said.

Australian Associated Press