Melbourne, Wednesday: Two more Australian Open players have tested positive for the coronavirus, authorities revealed Wednesday, taking to the number of cases linked to the tennis tournament to 10.
It is the latest blow to preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne -- which has already be delayed by three weeks due to the pandemic. A string of infections detected by Australian authorities have forced 72 players to be confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks.
Victoria state police minister Lisa Neville said two players and two non-players associated with the tournament had tested positive over the last 24 hours.
One of the players, she told reporters, “has absolutely been in hard lockdown because he came in on one of the flights where we had positives”.
More than 1,000 players and staff arrived in largely coronavirus-free Australia on 17 charter planes last week, with the first cases detected on those flights.
Several previously announced positive cases have been reclassified as non-infectious, meaning the confirmed number of cases in the tournament cluster is now 10.
But the entire contingent is spending 14 days in hotel quarantine, with players not considered close contacts of positive cases allowed outside to train for up to five hours a day in a biosecurity bubble.
- AFP
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