MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Three people in hotel quarantine linked to the Australian Open tennis tournament tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus variant linked to the UK, officials said on Saturday.
The three quarantined in Melbourne are not players, the state agency responsible for the quarantine told overseas travelers. Everyone has been in a hard lock since their arrival on January 15th.
“Three residents of the quarantine associated with the Australian Open, which tested positive for coronavirus, were found to have the British variant of the virus,” COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement.
Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, recorded its 17th day on Saturday without any new local infections as officials focus on keeping the community of staff and players here separate for the Grand Slam tournament.
A total of 72 players had been confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks upon arrival and could not practice for the February 8 to 21 event after passengers tested positive on three charter flights.
The exclusion has led to complaints from some frustrated tennis players, while others have encouraged their competitors to show more respect for the efforts of the state of Victoria during the Australian Open. This was done last year by one of the strictest and longest-running exclusions in the world to eradicate the virus.
Spanish Paula Badosa became the first player to confirm a positive test for COVID-19 on Friday while in quarantine in Melbourne. On Saturday, Spain’s tennis federation Tennis Australia apologized after complaining about the treatment of two Spanish players in quarantine.
The Victoria Quarantine Agency said there were ten active positive cases related to tennis in quarantine.
Three cases were recorded under international arrivals in a hotel quarantine in Victoria on Saturday, the health department said. One of them was related to the Australian Open, the quarantine agency said.
Australia fared better than most other developed economies in the pandemic through rapid border closures, locks, strict hotel quarantine for travelers and widespread testing and social distance.
On Saturday, it recorded a sixth consecutive day with zero coronavirus cases in the community nationwide. There were a total of 28,700 cases, the vast majority in Victoria and 909 deaths.
Written by Lidia Kelly; Edited by William Mallard