Australian Open set to go ahead as planned despite 507 players and staff caught up in Covid scare

AFP via Getty Images

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley is confident the tournament will begin as planned on Monday despite more than 500 players and support staff having been caught up in a Covid scare.

In all, 507 people have been quarantined in a Melbourne hotel after a 26-year-old man, who had been working at the hotel, returned a positive test for the virus on Wednesday.

It caused all matches on the ATP and WTA Tours to be cancelled on Thursday as organisers await the results of all of that cohort being tested again, which began at 9am.

Despite the setback, Tiley said: “We’re absolutely confident the Australian Open will go ahead. We will be starting on Monday and we have no intention of changing times.”

With many of the players again quarantined, the draw for the first Grand Slam of the year – scheduled to take place on Thursday – has now been delayed by 24 hours.

The delayed matches, meanwhile, are expected to be squeezed into Friday’s schedule.

And Tiley said: “We know that we have a period now where we have to work with these 507 players and their staff. The probability is very low that there’ll be an issue though.

“We expect them all to test negative. The plan is to continue to play tomorrow as planned. If we have to go through this again, we’ll go through this again. We have three-and-a-half weeks of tennis to play and we’ll go on as scheduled.”

The member of staff to have tested positive was described as a “casual contact” to the players and their support staff.

And Victoria deputy chief health officer Professor Allen Cheng insisted the latest round of tests were more as a precaution.

Of the threat of any new positive tests, he said: “I think it’s unlikely but we have asked for testing of all of the players and other people who have been in that hotel."

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