MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Three people in hotel quarters associated with the Australian Open tennis tournament tested positive for the highly transmissible coronavirus variant linked to the UK, officials said on Saturday.
The three quarantined in Melbourne are not players, said the state agency responsible for quarantining foreign travelers. Everyone has been in a rigid block since their arrival on January 15th.
“Three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus had the UK variant of the virus,” said COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria in a statement.
Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, registered its 17th day with no new local infections on Saturday, with officials focusing on keeping the community separate from the team and players here for the Grand Slam tournament.
Up to 72 players were confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks after arrival and were unable to train for the event from 8 to 21 February, after passengers on three charter flights tested positive.
The blockade has sparked complaints from some frustrated tennis players, although others have asked other competitors to show more respect for the efforts of the state of Victoria when the Australian Open will be held. He went through one of the longest and most rigid blocks in the world last year to eradicate the virus.
Paula Badosa of Spain became the first player on Friday to confirm a positive test for COVID-19 while being quarantined in Melbourne. On Saturday, the Spanish tennis federation apologized to Tennis Australia after complaining about the treatment of two Spanish players in quarantine.
Victoria’s quarantine agency said there were 10 active positive cases related to tennis in quarantine.
Three cases were reported between international arrivals in a hotel quarantine in Victoria on Saturday, the state health department said. One was associated with the Australian Open, the quarantine agency said.
Australia fared better than most other developed economies in the pandemic through rapid border closures, blockades, strict hotel quarantine for travelers and widespread testing and social detachment.
On Saturday, it recorded a sixth consecutive day of zero cases of coronavirus in the community across the country. There were 28,700 cases in total, the overwhelming majority in Victoria, and 909 deaths.
Written by Lidia Kelly; William Mallard edition