Australian Open: 47 players in quarantine after positive testing of the Covid-19 on two charter flights

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Twenty-four players on a charter flight from the United States to Melbourne are required to quarantine for two weeks after a flight crew member and a passenger (not a player) tested positive. Both had tested negative within 72 hours of boarding the flight, which carried a total of 79 people.

Another 23 players are also in quarantine after the arrival in Melbourne of a charter flight carrying 64 people from Abu Dhabi. One person (again not a player) tested positive after the flight, despite submitting documentation of a negative Covid-19 test prior to takeoff.

The 47 affected players will not be able to leave the hotel rooms for a period of 14 days and until they are medically authorized. They will not be able to practice.

On Saturday, the organizers of the Australian Open released two statements detailing how the player would be affected.

“All the passengers of the flight are already in quarantine hotels and the positive case, which is not a player and had given a negative before the flight, has been transferred to a health hotel,” the second statement said in reference to the Abu Dhabi-Melbourne vol.

Passengers who tested positive for the virus on the U.S. flight were also taken to a health hotel.

“Our thoughts are with the two people who have tested positive for the flight and we wish them well,” Craig Tiley, director of the Australian Tournament, said in the organizers ’first statement.

TO READ: Tennys Sandgren tested positive for Covid-19 and then climbed into the Australian Open

“Rigorous testing program”

In a tweet that was deleted later, French player Alize Cornet, who is in Melbourne but was not on either plane, described the situation as “insane”.

“Soon, half of the AO players will have to isolate themselves,” he tweeted. “Weeks and weeks of practice and hard work will be lost for a positive person for Covid on an empty 3/4 plane. I’m sorry, but that’s crazy.”

Originally scheduled to begin this month, the Australian Open was rescheduled from 8 to 21 February due to Covid-19 concerns.

While most of the best players in the world have gone straight to Melbourne, others like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams flew to Adelaide.

“SA Health has confirmed that no one has an active COVID-19 infection in the entire Adelaide-based tennis cohort,” the Australian Open tweeted later on Saturday. “Testing will continue daily.”

Prior to Saturday’s events, tournament organizers had said players would also “undergo a stricter test schedule than most returning travelers.”

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They all have to spend a fortnight of 14 days, but are allowed to go out five hours a day to train in strict biosecure bubbles before a bunch of warm-up tournaments, all in Melbourne, the week before the grand slam.

But the 47 players who are now settled in their hotels will wonder how they will be able to prepare properly or the first big shawl of the season.

CNN’s Dan Kamal contributed to this report.

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