More players in lockdown after virus cases on flights
MELBOURNE: A further 25 tennis players were forced into quarantine in Australia ahead of the season’s first major after another positive coronavirus test on a charter flight, taking the total number of competitors isolating in hotel rooms to 72.
The positive test came from a passenger who was not a member of the playing contingent, Australian Open organisers said. But all 58 passengers, including the 25 players on the flight from Doha, that arrived in Melbourne on Saturday, now cannot leave their hotel rooms for two weeks.
Organisers had previously announced that 47 players had to quarantine after four Covid-19 cases emerged from two other charter flights bringing players, staff, officials and media to Australia. Some players have expressed anger at being classified as close contacts merely for being on board those flights with people who later tested positive and, therefore, forced into a harsher quarantine than the broader group of players who’ll be allowed out of their rooms to practice for five hours daily.
Sylvain Bruneau, who coaches 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, posted on social media to say he was on the flight from Abu Dhabi and had tested
positive. Two-time Open champion Victoria Azarenka and the 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori were reported to be on the flight from Los Angeles. All passengers from both of those flights are in hard lockdown.
Several players in quarantine, including Sorana Cirstea of Romania, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan complained in social media posts that the rules seemed to have changed between what they saw before travelling to Australia and what was being imposed in Melbourne. Cirstea posted on Twitter:
“If they would have told us this rule before I would not play Australia ... I would have stayed home. They told us we would fly at 20% capacity, in sections and we would be a close contact ONLY if my team or cohort tests positive.”
But government officials have rejected those claims.
Tennis Australia confirmed there were 24 players on the flight from Los Angeles and 23 on the flight from Abu Dhabi. Those were among 17 charter flights from seven international destinations bringing up to 1,200 players, coaches, staff and officials into Australia for the tournament. British player Heather Watson said on Twitter that she and others who arrived from Abu Dhabi “are NOT allowed out (of) our rooms.” She posted the notification that she and others who were on the flight received informing them of the quarantine.
Being unable to leave their room would mean the only workouts they’d be able to have would be on exercise equipment left in the rooms of all of the players. Others will be allowed to train under strict conditions and with supervision, although those practice sessions in Melbourne had been delayed while health authorities waited to receive all the coronavirus tests.
Andy Murray and American Madison Keys haven’t travelled after testing positive in mandatory pre-flight checks.
Organisers said there were no plans to delay the Open further although they were reviewing the schedule for the warmup tournaments starting Feb. 1.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are among a group of players involved in an exhibition event in Adelaide, South Australia state, on Jan. 29. They flew straight to Adelaide to begin their hotel quarantine period. So far, there’s been no Covid-19 cases reported from the quarantine in Adelaide.