Australian Open arrivals hit by three Covid cases

Melbourne: Three coronavirus cases have been detected among charter flights carrying tennis players, coaches and officials to Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open, health authorities and tournament organisers said Saturday.

A total of 47 players from the two affected flights — arriving from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi — are now in strictly enforced 14-day quarantine without the ability to leave their hotel rooms — even to practice. The Australian Open is scheduled to start February 8.

Health authorities said two positive Covid-19 cases emerged from a charter flight from Los Angeles, and later Saturday, Tennis Australia said there was a third positive case from a flight from Abu Dhabi.

The cases from Los Angeles involved an aircrew member and a passenger who was not a player. The third positive test — also not a player — was from a flight from Abu Dhabi in the past 24 hours, Tennis Australia said.

Authorities earlier said that all passengers from the Los Angeles flight would go into the 14-day hotel quarantine. “An aircrew member and Australian Open participant who is not a player have been transferred to a health hotel following positive test results for coronavirus (COVID-19),” Victoria State’s health department said in a statement about the Los Angeles flight.