Two Australian Open tennis players have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the tournament to seven.
Victoria’s health official, Prof Brett Sutton, has confirmed three new cases related to the grand tennis event announced earlier on Tuesday involving a 20-year-old woman and two 30-year-old men. Two are tennis players and one is a non-playing participant.
Players Under Quarantine
Sutton also claimed that two previous Covid-19 cases had caused severe closure of some tennis players by quarantine had been reclassified as cases of “viral shedding” linked to the previous infection.
However, he said it was too early to clear the aircrafts/flights reclassified cases were travelling on, meaning all passengers, including 47 players who were deemed close contacts, must remain in hard lockdown.
Unlike other players who are isolated, players on board whose passengers have been tested are not allowed to leave their hotels five hours a day to train, creating complaints of mistreatment.
Victorian Premier Andrew Speaks
On Tuesday morning, the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, revealed that some players in strict lockdown could be let out due to the reclassification, saying:“I can foreshadow that a number of cases that are linked to the Australian Open … have been reclassified as shedding rather than being actively infected.”
“If you’ve got say 30 people who are deemed a close contact because they’ve been on a plane with a case, and the case is no longer an active case, but a case of historic shedding, that would release those people from that hard lockdown,” Andrews said.
But on Tuesday afternoon, Sutton said no change in the extreme conditions of quarantine would be made so far.
“While two cases of viral shedding were confirmed yesterday, this does not change broader assessment of the player group in hotel quarantine,” his statement said. “As yet, none of the three affected flights have been cleared as a result of the two reclassified cases.”
Shedding means someone could have genetic remnants of the virus from a previous infection, without being infectious. Viral shedding of fragments that are infectious usually begins within a few days of contracting the virus, whether people have symptoms or not, but shedding of fragments that are not infectious can continue for longer periods, especially after severe cases of the virus. People can still test positive for the virus even while their shedding is no longer infectious.
Some players apply their compulsory detention to Adelaide before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open. Australian athlete Nick Kyrgios, ranked 47th in the world, has been named No. 1 Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, a “tool” to complain about his plans to split the hotel and make a list of applications to authorities, including players being moved to private homes through tennis courts.
The Players Are Not Happy
In an exclusive interview with Israeli sports channel Sport 5, Spanish No. 13 player Roberto Bautista Agut said: “I can not imagine staying two weeks like this … It’s really really tough.”
Andrews also said the separated players would not receive any special treatment while others criticized Melbourne should not risk taking the Australian Open.
“People are free to ask for things, but the answer is no,” Andrews said. “They knew what they were travelling into and we are not cutting corners or making special arrangements. They are the appropriate arrangements. They are based on public health advice … we know if there is an outbreak in any part of the country it becomes an issue very, very fast.
“So, no, those are the rules. Those people are provided very well. They knew that was what they were coming for. We are not making any changes. ”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, was asked on Tuesday whether it would be appropriate for Victoria to allow the newcomers to the Australian Open as farmers struggled to fill the labor shortage caused by the absence of foreign workers.
“I think we can manage a tennis Open and pick fruit,” Morrison said during his week-long tour of drought-stricken areas of Queensland. “It doesn’t have to be a choice between the two. We’re a clever country.”
