BEVERLY HILLS, January 17, (THEWILL) – The COVID-19 outbreak is not giving Tennis Australia, organisers of the first Open of the tennis season, a breather. A third flight into Melbourne has confirmed a positive coronavirus test on arrival from Doha ahead of the Australian Open which starts in about three weeks.
By implication, another flight-load of people look set to be added to the 47 players and their entourages currently isolating for two weeks in their hotel rooms ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season.
Although it is as yet unclear how many people were in this latest flight, every one of those impacted must self quarantine. They can neither leave their rooms to train nor interact with others in accordance with the severe restrictions followed by organisers of the Slam.
As reported by THEWILL on Saturday infections were registered on two chartered flights bringing in players to the tournament’s host city from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi. Those players who arrived in different planes have begun undertaking a mandatory 14-day quarantine but are permitted to leave their hotels for five hours a day for training purposes.
Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO and Open tournament director, confirmed the year’s first Grand Slam will proceed as scheduled from February 8 despite anger from players forced into hard quarantine and shortened training sessions in the unprecedented circumstances and under Australia’s strict protocols.
The latest positive test came from a broadcaster who was on the flight from Los Angeles. This joins the previous cases of positive tests from an aircrew member and a tennis coach on the same plane who were reported on Saturday. The final case, so far, was Sylvain Bruneau, the coach of women’s 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
Bruneau was a passenger on a chartered flight carrying 23 players from Abu Dhabi on Saturday that combined with those other cases to force the quarantining of 47 players and their entourages.
There is the underlining hope that this will be the last case to be registered around flights coming into Australia for the Slam Down Under so as not to completely jeopardise the efforts put into organising the competition. Yet, Tennis Australia is confident that the measures enforced so far are working and everything is in place to make sure the Open goes on without hitches.
About the Author
