The Australian Open will stop matches on Thursday – four days before the tournament starts – after a worker at one of the tournament’s hotels tested positive for COVID-19.
The first Grand Slam of 2021 starts on Monday. The venue is currently hosting the ATP Cup team competition until Friday. There were about 62 games planned for Thursday.
Australian Open: 600 to quarantine days before Grand Slam
Between 500 and 600 players, officials and support staff will have to isolate themselves in their hotel rooms until they have a negative COVID-19 test result. The Australian Open organizers announced the news on Twitter late Wednesday.
We will work with all involved to facilitate the test as quickly as possible.
There are no matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday. An update on the schedule for Friday will be announced later today. #AusOpen
– #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 3 February 2021
“Health authorities have informed us that a hotel worker has tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement said. ‘Those related to the AO who are quarantined in the hotel must now be tested and isolated until they get a negative test result.
“We will work with all involved to test as quickly as possible. There are no matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday. An update on the schedule for Friday will be announced later today. ”
The individual tested negative on his last day in the hotel, but later tested positive for the virus. Victoria Andrews, Prime Minister of Victoria, said via the AP that the government is working on contact detection and he is in a medical facility.
“This is a case. “People do not have to panic,” Andrews said. There is no need to be afraid of people. We Victorians know what to do, and we as a state have proven that it is very successful in managing these kinds of outbreaks, these issues. ‘
Victoria officials announced earlier in the day, ahead of the news of the test, that the area had run for 28 days without a local broadcast issue.
Quarantined players considered comfortable contacts
Those staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel are all considered comfortable contact with the 26-year-old who tested positive, the health department said via The Guardian. Andrews called a news conference late at night to announce the case “through an abundance of caution” and encouraged anyone showing symptoms to be tested.
“This is a test that came through that afternoon,” Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, told The Guardian. “We took all the aspects of the response that we know needed to be put in place to get it ahead.”
Authorities did not expect any interruptions to the Grand Slam play, which begins Monday. Six tournaments are being played in Melbourne this week as a prelude to the Grand Slam.
The first Grand Slam in 2021 experienced problems
Australian took COVID-19 protocol seriously and allowed only a small number of charter flights for those participating in the Australian Open.
Nearly 100 players, staff and staff had to go into a hard quarantine for 14 days after individuals on three chartered flights tested positive for COVID-19 upon their arrival in the country. These individuals would have left the quarantine measures over the weekend. Unlike others, they were not allowed to exercise outside and had to stay in their rooms.
The COVID-19 mortality rate in Australia is 909, of which 820 in Victoria. Most deaths come after a second deadly wave last year, according to the AP. There were more than 28,000 cases. The Australian Open currently plans to receive up to 30,000 spectators daily during the two-week tournament.
The United States has had more than 446,000 deaths since Wednesday morning and more than 26.4 million cases have been reported. New York hosted the US Open at Flushing Meadows in October under strict guidelines and without fans.
More from Yahoo Sports:
Originally published