Australian Open finds itself in a new challenge after a worker at one of the event's quarantine hotels in Melbourne tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Due to the new development, between 500 and 600 players, officials and staff are to go into isolation just days before the start of the first Grand Slam of the year on Monday. This comes in the middle of the warm-up events ahead of the big tournaments.
Wednesday's play at the six warm-up tournaments that are taking place in Melbourne will be affected due to the new case, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said, as reported by BBC. However, Andrews further added, "At this stage there is no impact on the tournament proper. I must say (the Australian Open) is important to us but the issues are much broader and that is about public health and public safety."
Andrews made it clear that the Australian Open will "proceed next week" and that decision had already been made.
The man who has tested positive is a 26-year-old and as per BBC's report, he is believed to have tested positive for the UK strain of the virus. He was working at the hotel where some of the 1000 players, officials and staff stayed for the 14-day quarantine on their arrival to Australia.
Andrew stated that all the 500-600 Australian Open-related parties were deemed as "casual contacts" of the man and that the players will be free to get back to competing once they test negative.
"This is one case, there is no need for people to be panicked or alarmed," Andrews said, adding that the state of Victoria would have some restrictions again, including the need to wear masks indoors.
"We have proved as a state very successful in managing these sort of outbreaks and issues," he added.
Tennis Australia, who are the organisers of the Feb. 8-21 Grand Slam, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
About 1,200 players, coaching staff and officials arrived in Australia at the middle of last month for the year's first Grand Slam and went into a mandatory 14-day isolation.
The players were allowed five hours outside for training but 72 of them were confined to hotel rooms for the two weeks after passengers on three charter flights taking them to Australia tested positive to the novel coronavirus.
Participants of the Australian Open were given the green light to begin exiting COVID-19 quarantine from end of last week with most of them involved at the ATP, WTA events at the site of the hard-court major.
(With Reuters inputs)