All competition at six Australian Open tuneup events scheduled for Thursday was called off after a person working at one of the tournaments’ Melbourne quarantine hotels tested positive for COVID-19.
Players preparing for the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, which is supposed to begin Monday, must isolate at their hotels until they test negative for the illness caused by the coronavirus.
Victoria’s state premier, Daniel Andrews, said he called a late-night news conference Wednesday to announce the case “through an abundance of caution,” although he did acknowledge that new restrictions could impact hundreds of people associated with the Australian Open.
Andrews spoke before all of Thursday’s play was postponed, which he acknowledged was a possibility. But as for the Australian Open, Andrews said: “At this stage, no impact on the tournament proper.”
Any players, coaches or officials who quarantined at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne were deemed to be casual contacts of the 26-year-old infected man and are required to remain in their hotels until they test negative.
Everyone in the city will be required to wear masks while indoors.
The hotel advertises it has 550 rooms, including 25 premium suites, so potentially hundreds of people associated with the tournament could be forced back into isolation. That could test the resolve of players who have recently come out of two weeks in quarantine and could give ammunition to critics of the decision to allow people to fly in from all over the world for the year’s first major.
Australian Open organizers didn’t immediately have details of how many players would have to isolate.
Under the current plans, up to 30,000 spectators are expected daily at Melbourne Park for the two-week Grand Slam event, and there was no immediate indication of a change