By Australian Open in chaos as 520 players and staff and 600 ‘close contacts’ of quarantine worker who contracted Covid-19 are forced to isolate
The Australian Open has been plunged into chaos with players and staff forced into lockdown and millions of Melburnians living with new restrictions after a quarantine worker tested positive to Covid-19.
Mass testing is now underway with 520 tennis stars, officials and support staff identified as casual contacts of the 26-year-old, who worked at the Grand Hyatt hotel.
Another 600 close contacts who have worked with the man over the last two weeks have also been plunged into isolation.
Currently all Melbourne Summer Series matches at Melbourne Park today have been cancelled, until results start emerging from testing.
The changes have prompted a concerned response – although TV personality Adam Liaw attempted to find the funny side tweeting: “A lot of people getting angry about the #AusOpen but you have to understand we all need to make sacrifices so we can give Novak Djokovic four million dollars OK.”
Concerning news for players
Some players only emerged from the strict lockdown over the weekend. Aggressive restrictions on incoming travel have helped keep the coronavirus at bay in Australia, making it one of the countries still able to have spectators at sports events.
Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 were expected to be allowed to watch the Australian Open, equating to some 390,000 spectators across the two-week spectacle, around half the attendance of last year.
