Four cases of coronavirus were detected on charter flights that transported tennis players, coaches and officials to Melbourne for the Australian Open, forcing 47 players to be strictly quarantined in hotels.
Health officials confirmed that there were three positive tests for Covid-19 returned on Saturday and another on Sunday. None of the cases so far have involved players.
However, players on the two affected flights – from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi – were in strict 14-day quarantine, unable to leave their hotel rooms or train, health officials and tournament organizers said on Saturday. The Australian Open begins on February 8.
Health officials initially said that two positive Covid-19 cases – a technician and a crew member – emerged from a chartered flight from Los Angeles and the other positive test was that of a bus on the Abu Dhabi flight. On Sunday, Victoria State Quarantine Covid-19 Commissioner Emma Cassar told a news conference that another positive test, from a member of a television broadcast team, had returned from the flight from Los Angeles.
All four cases tested negative before boarding their flights to Australia.
Canadian star coach Bianca Andreescu said he tested positive after arriving from Abu Dhabi. Sylvain Bruneau said that “the rest of my team is negative”.
Tennis Australia confirmed that there were 24 players on the flight from Los Angeles and 23 on the flight from Abu Dhabi. These flights were 17 charter flights from seven international destinations bringing up to 1,200 players, coaches, officials and officials to Australia for the tournament.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley issued a statement on Saturday saying the organizers “are communicating with everyone on this flight, especially with the group of players whose conditions have now changed, to ensure that their needs are met to the fullest. possible and that they are fully assessed on the situation. “
On Sunday, Tiley told Australia’s Nine Network that organizers and players were warned that there would be a “significant risk” of restrictions imposed on players if there was a positive result for Covid-19.
“We made that very clear at the beginning,” said Tiley. “Now we have to manage an environment for the next 14 days for those who will not be able to practice”.
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Kei Nishikori, runner-up in the 2014 United States Open, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, were among a group of players who arrived on the flight from Los Angeles.
British player Heather Watson said on Twitter that she and others who arrived from Abu Dhabi “are NOT allowed to leave (our) rooms”. She posted the notification that she and others on the flight received informing about the quarantine.
“The Chief Health Officer analyzed the flight and determined that everyone on board needs to isolate and will be confined to their rooms during the 14-day quarantine period,” said the notification, which Watson posted.
Being unable to leave the room would mean that the only exercises they could have would be on exercise equipment left in all players’ rooms.
Other players will be allowed to train under strict conditions and with supervision for up to five hours a day, although training sessions in Melbourne have been postponed while health officials waited to receive all coronavirus tests.
Several quarantined players, including Sorana Cirstea from Romania, Belinda Bencic from Switzerland and Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan, complained in social media posts that the rules seem to have changed between what they saw before traveling to Australia and what was being imposed on Melbourne.
Tiley said there are no plans to delay the Australian Open any further – it starts three weeks later than usual.
Australia’s international borders are basically closed to travelers, although there are exemptions in special circumstances.
Australia has done a relatively good job of containing the coronavirus, with 909 deaths across the country.