Fri, Feb 05, 2021 page16

• Virus case not obstacle to Open

  GOING AHEAD: The people who underwent quarantine at the Grand Hyatt hotel, 160 of them players, were instructed to get tested again and isolate until they get the result

  • Reuters, MELBOURNE
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  The Australian Open is to begin as scheduled on Monday, even though a worker at one of the Melbourne hotels used to quarantine players and their entourages tested positive for COVID-19, tournament director Craig Tiley said yesterday.

  Yesterday’s warm-up matches at Melbourne Park were called off after the case was announced late on Wednesday.

  Those who underwent quarantine at the Grand Hyatt hotel were instructed to get tested again and isolate until they received the result.

  

  Chinese tennis player Wang Qiang, right, lines up for COVID-19 testing at the View hotel in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday.

  Photo: EPA-EFE

  “We’re absolutely confident the Australian Open will go ahead,” Tiley told reporters in Melbourne. “We are starting on Monday.”

  The 507 people affected, 160 of them players, were to have their tests completed by late yesterday afternoon, Tiley said.

  If the results were negative, the players would be free to participate in the six warm-up events at the venue of the Grand Slam, to allow them to get some match practice after 14 days in quarantine.

  “This does give us three days for the lead-in events to be completed,” he said, adding that the draw for the Grand Slam tournament had been postponed from yesterday to today.

  Earlier, the Victoria Department of Health and Human Services said that the testing of the tennis cohort was precautionary.

  “We think the risk to other guests in the hotel — tennis players and their accompanying staff — is relatively low,” Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng told reporters.

  Victoria State Premier Dan Andrews has called the safety of the community paramount, saying that there were “no guarantees” the tournament would go ahead.

  “At this stage, the tennis shouldn’t be impacted by this,” he told reporters. “These things can change — this has been a textbook response to this.”

  Victorian Legislative Assembly Member Michael O’Brien called on the state government to make a call by tomorrow on whether the tournament would go ahead.

  “We don’t want to see a situation as we did with the [Formula One Australian] Grand Prix, where crowds were literally turning up, only to be turned away,” he told the Herald Sun. “I think people are entitled to know what’s happening, and the government should be making their minds up.”

  In March last year, the Australian Grand Prix was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic a few hours before the race cars were due to take to the track at Melbourne’s Albert Park.

  Tiley rejected the comparison.

  “The probability is very low that there’ll be an issue. We expect them all to test negative,” he said. “The plan is to continue to play tomorrow as planned.”

  Tiley, who has plenty of experience of rescheduling matches because of rain, hot weather and bushfire smoke, said that the order of play for today, when wet weather is forecast, would be released later yesterday.

  “With the rain, we do have the luxury of having three stadium courts and eight indoor courts,” he said. “That will enable us to not get ahead, but at least be able to finish by Sunday.”
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