MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian open chief Craig Tiley said on Tuesday that most players supported being locked in a hard quarantine as a government official said three new cases of COVID-19 could be linked to it. the Grand Slam.
More than 70 players and their entrants are confined to their hotel rooms for 14 days and unable to train for the Australian Open February 8-21 February after passengers on three flights tested positive return for the coronavirus.
Some players have complained about the conditions, and Novak Djokovic, men’s number one in the world, has called on the Australian Tennis governing body to quarantine the quarantine ban, draw backing from Australians.
Tiley said he had a call with 500 players to address concerns and the “majority” had been supportive of Australia’s strict protocols.
“Most of them, most of them have been great and supportive,” Tiley told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
“(They know) that this is the contribution they have to make to win when they come out to compete for A $ 80 million ($ 61.46 million) in prize money.
“So we’ll turn the corner on those few who don’t have the right approach. But the rest has been very good. ”
Tiley acknowledged, however, that the 72 players in hard quarantine were at a disadvantage to competitors who arrived on other flights and could train up to five hours per day.
“No, it’s not a level playing field as far as preparation is concerned but we are going to do our part to try and make it as big as we can,” he said.
Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews announced four new cases of COVID-19 in a hotel quarantine on Tuesday and said three could be linked to Australian Open workers.
The diseases contributed to four connected to the tournament on Monday.
Andrews told reporters that some of the cases could be reclassified as “viral shedding” from historic diseases, which could allow some players and officials to be released from hard quarantine.
“If you say that there are 30 people who are seen as close-knit because they’ve been on a plane with an issue, and the issue is no longer an active issue, but a historical shear, well, that would be release those people from that hard lock, ”Andrews said.
($ 1 = 1.3017 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Ian Ransom; Edited by Richard Pullin