Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday night that a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter who worked as a resident support officer during the tournament tested positive for the virus. Until then, the state had not seen local transmission of the virus for 28 days.
New restrictions were imposed on the state’s 6.7 million inhabitants. Masks are mandatory in closed public places and new limits have been set for the number of people who can meet in a home.
Andrews said the new rules are being put in place “with great caution” and due to the possibility that the case was caused by a new strain of coronavirus – although he said that the genomic sequencing needed to determine whether that was the case yet it’s not over.
The unidentified man last worked at the Grand Hyatt hotel on January 29 and tested negative for the virus at the end of his shift that day. However, he subsequently developed symptoms and tested positive on Wednesday.
As a result, Andrews said that 500 to 600 people staying at the hotel were considered “close contacts” and will have to isolate themselves until they return a negative test.
He said the situation should not affect the Australian Open itself, which starts on Monday. Speaking on Thursday, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that of the 507 people tested, 160 of them were players.
Tiley said the test should be completed by 5 pm local time on Thursday, saying the players are “casual contacts” and that there is a low likelihood that any of them will have tested positive.
The Australian Open draw has been postponed for one day to Friday, while testing takes place.
The entire game at the Melbourne Park tennis center scheduled for Thursday has been suspended to allow players and staff to be tested. The head of Tennis Australia said the affected warm-up matches would be rescheduled, weather permitting. “Everything remains as it is, with only a day’s delay, until further notice,” said Tiley.
The race to the tournament was shaped by fear of the coronavirus. Upon arrival in Victoria, 72 players were quarantined for 14 days before their Grand Slam departures, after passengers on their flights tested positive for Covid-19.
CNN’s Aleks Klosok and Hillary Whiteman contributed reports.