MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Three people in hotel quarantine associated with the Australian Open tennis tournament have tested positive for the UK-related highly transmissible coronavirus variant, officials said on Saturday.
The three quarantined in Melbourne are not players, said the state agency responsible for quarantining overseas travelers. They have all been heavily blocked since their arrival on January 15th.
“It was found that three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus had the British variant of the virus,” COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement.
Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, recorded its seventeenth day on Saturday with no new local infections as officials focus on keeping the community separate from staff and players here for the Grand Slam tournament.
As many as 72 players have been confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks on arrival and have been unable to train for the Feb. 8-21 event after passengers on three charter flights tested positive.
The blockade has sparked complaints from some frustrated tennis players, although others have urged their fellow competitors to show more respect for the efforts of the state of Victoria, when the Australian Open will be held. Last year it went through one of the strictest and longest blockages in the world to eliminate the virus.
Spaniard Paula Badosa became the first player on Friday to confirm a positive test for COVID-19 while in quarantine in Melbourne. On Saturday, the Spanish tennis federation apologized to Tennis Australia after complaining about the quarantine treatment of two Spanish players.
The Victoria Quarantine Agency said there were 10 active positive cases related to tennis in quarantine.
Three cases were reported between international arrivals at hotel quarantine in Victoria on Saturday, the state health department said. One of these was associated with the Australian Open, the quarantine agency said.
Australia has fared better than most other developed pandemic economies due to rapid border closures, closures, strict hotel quarantine for travelers and widespread testing and social distancing.
On Saturday, it recorded a sixth consecutive day of zero coronavirus cases in the nationwide community. It has had 28,700 cases in total, the overwhelming majority in Victoria, and 909 deaths.
Written by Lydia Kelly; Edited by William Mallard