The Australian Open, which will be played in Victoria, was in doubt due to COVID-19 but the state has reported no new cases in the last two days.
Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria reported no local coronavirus cases on Saturday for the second straight day, boding well for the Australian Open tennis tournament due to start in Melbourne on Monday. More than 500 staff and players in the Grand Slam event tested negative for the coronavirus virus on Friday in re-testing required after a worker at their quarantine hotel caught the virus. Positive cases could have spurred a lockdown, and qualifying matches were canceled on Thursday while test results were pending. The Victorian government ruled that except for players, masks will be mandatory at Australian Open games, which will be played under a closed roof. Following the most recent case, masks are required in all indoor spaces in Victoria.
"That applies to the stadia at the Australian Open when the roofs are closed, it`s like any other indoor setting," Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said at a press conference on Saturday. Public health officials said on Saturday that all immediate close contacts of the hotel worker have so far tested negative for the virus but urged people to get tested even with the mildest symptoms.
"I want to reinforce the message that this is not over, that this is wildly infectious," Victoria’s Health Minister Mike Foley said. Western Australia, the country`s biggest state where there was a single case of the coronavirus reported a week ago, on Friday evening exited a snap lockdown after reporting no cases for five straight days.
Thanks to border closures, high rates of community compliance and aggressive testing and tracing, Australia has been more successful than most advanced economies in managing the pandemic, with total infections at under 29,000 and 909 deaths so far.
Scare for Australian Open
The Australian Open will 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 on Thursday. Thursday's warm-up matches at Melbourne Park were called off after the case was announced late on Wednesday, and those who underwent quarantine at the Grand Hyatt hotel were instructed to get tested and isolate until they had a result. "We're absolutely confident the Australian Open will go ahead," Tiley told reporters in Melbourne. "We are starting on Monday," Tiley said the 507 people affected, 160 of them are players and they would have their tests completed by late Thursday afternoon.
If the results were negative, the players would be free to participate in the six warm-up events at the venue of the Australian Open 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 Thursday to Friday. Earlier, Victoria state health officials said 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," Professor Allen Cheng told reporters.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Australian Open 2021")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}