Australian Open Gives Updates On Players Quarantining After Someone On Their Flight To Melbourne Had A 'Positive COVID-19 Test'

Australian Open Gives Updates On Players Quarantining After Someone On Their Flight To Melbourne Had A ‘Positive COVID-19 Test’

Australian Open Gives Updates On Players Quarantining After Someone On Their Flight To Melbourne Had A ‘Positive COVID-19 Test’

Twenty-five players who were set to play in the Australian Open are in quarantine according to statements released by the tournament.

RELATED: Serena Williams Falls to Fellow Mom Victoria Azarenka in Semifinals of US Open

“One positive COVID-19 test has been returned from a passenger on a charter flight into Melbourne from Doha which arrived at (5:30)am on 16 January,” The Australian Open said in the statement. “The passenger is not a member of the playing contingent and had tested negative before the flight.”

There were 58 passengers on that flight, which included the 25 players who are in “quarantine hotels”, according to the Australian Open.

“The 25 players on the flight will not be able to leave their hotel room for 14 days and until they are medically cleared,” The Australian Open said. “They will not be eligible to (practice).”

“We are communicating with everyone on this flight, and particularly the playing group whose conditions have now changed, to ensure their needs are being catered to as much as possible, and that they are fully appraised of the situation,” Craig Tiley, Australian Open tournament director, said in statement. “Our thoughts are with the two people who tested positive on the flight and we wish them well for their recovery.”

Before all this news, though, the open appeared to have strict protocols in place, per that January 15 tweet, already requiring players to quarantine for 14 days:

In a previous update, the Australian Open said in a statement that “the positive case, who is not a player and had tested negative before the flight, has been transferred to a health hotel”.

We hope the individual who tested positive is well and that he has a healthy, speedy recovery.

As players are quarantining, I’m sure they, along with the tourney, is looking forward to the tourney which is set to start on February 8.

Some of the players are making the best of what they’ve been given during quarantine but “turning their hotel rooms into private gyms” per Reuters:

And according to The Australian, men’s tennis first-ranked Novak Djokovic “issued an open letter to…Tiley…with a list of demands for the growing number of tennis players forced into mandatory quarantine for 14 days…(including a) reduction of isolation time following negative COVID-19 tests…permission to visit coach or physical trainer as long as they have passed negative tests…Fitness and training equipment in all rooms.”

Félix AugerAliassime was excited for the tourney and also released a statement on January 15 (a day before the AO’s statements on the news) giving props to the tournament, saying “I think we sometimes lack empathy these days and don’t put ourselves in other (people’s) shoes enough. By doing so we realize the amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes to make these next events happen”:

The tourney showed some love back to the tennis player:

From February 8-21, there will be game, set, match(es) from Aussieland.

About At The Buzzer

At The Buzzer, or ATB is the place for those who love sports, life, family, community, and so much more. We are far from the run-of-the-mill 24/7 sports news websites. We not only bring you what’s happening in the world of sports in terms of trades and breaking news, but we also bring you the news that goes on behind the scenes, like big life moments, and so much more. So take a minute and read one of our articles, we promise you won't regret it.