MELBOURNE, Feb 4:
There were 160 players back in isolation because a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for COVID-19.
Six tuneup tournaments were suspended for a day so that 507 people connected with the Australian Open could be tested for the virus. Apparently, no worries.
Australian Open organizers weren’t deterred at all, vowing that the year’s first Grand Slam tournament would start as planned next Monday, with all the tuneup tournaments completed – somehow, tweaks are expected – between Friday and Sunday. (AP)
The one-day shutdown was triggered – the Victoria state premier, a leading health official and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley all said – out of “an abundance of caution.”
“We are absolutely confident the Australian Open is going to go ahead,” Tiley told a news conference Thursday against the backdrop of an almost deserted Melbourne Park.
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