MELBOURNE: All six Australian Open set-up events scheduled for Thursday were called off after a person working in one of Melbourne’s quarantine hotels of the tournaments tested positive for COVID-19.
Players preparing for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which is supposed to start on Monday, have to isolate themselves in their hotels until they are negative for coronavirus disease.
“We will work with everyone involved to facilitate testing as soon as possible,” Tennis Australia said in a statement announcing the postponement of all matches due to be played on Thursday at Melbourne Park.
Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said he convened a press conference on Wednesday to announce the case “with great caution,” although he acknowledged that the new restrictions could affect hundreds of people associated with the ‘Australian Open.
Andrews spoke before the entire Thursday play was postponed, which he acknowledged was a possibility. But as for the Australian Open, Andrews said: “Right now, there’s no impact on the tournament.”
All players, coaches or officers who were quarantined at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne are considered to be casual contacts of the 26-year-old infected man and should remain in their hotels until they are negative.
Everyone in the city will have to wear masks inside.
The hotel announces that it has 550 rooms, including 25 premium suites, so potentially hundreds of people associated with the tournament could be forced to stay isolated again. This could test the resolution of players who have just come out of two weeks in quarantine and could give critics ammunition of the decision to allow people to fly around the world for the first major test of the year.
The organizers of the Australian Open did not immediately have details of how many players they should isolate.
Under current plans, up to 30,000 daily spectators are expected in Melbourne Park for the two-week Grand Slam event and there has been no immediate indication of a change.
All those arriving in Australia must pass a mandatory 14-day quarantine under the COVID-19 pandemic regulations. The Australian Open used three hotels in Melbourne for most players in their forties and had other safe accommodation and facilities in Adelaide, South Australia, for some of the biggest stars. , including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Players were tested every day during their forties and were not allowed to leave hotels without a negative result.
The infected worker tested negative on his last day at the hotel on January 29, but later tested positive and has been working with the government and health workers on locating contacts. Andrews said the man was in a medical center and dozens of his close contacts were mandatory isolated.
“This is a case. There’s no need for people to panic,” Andrews said. “People don’t need to be alarmed. Victorians know what to do, and we’ve shown, as a state, very successfully managing this kind of outbreak, that kind of issue.”
Earlier Wednesday, Victoria health officials had announced that the state had passed 28 days without any cases involving local transmission.
Australia has 909 deaths attributed to COVID-19, including 820 in the state of Victoria. Most of these were during a second deadly wave last year, in which a harsh blockade and curfews were established overnight in Melbourne.