MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said most players supported being locked down in hard quarantine with the local government reporting three new cases of COVID-19 linked to participants of the Grand Slam on Tuesday.
Victoria health officials said two previous cases have been classified as prior infections taking the total positive cases associated with the tournament to seven.
“The new positive cases linked to the Australian Open involve two players and one non-playing participant,” said a statement from the health department.
More than 70 players and their entourage are confined to their hotel rooms for 14 days and unable to train for the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open after passengers on three charter flights returned positive tests for the novel coronavirus.
The two cases reclassified would, however, not change the status of the players yet and they will continue to serve the rest of their strict isolation.
Some players have complained about the conditions, and men’s world number one Novak Djokovic sent governing body Tennis Australia requests for quarantine restrictions to be eased, drawing a backlash from Australians.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he would not make changes and the measures were essential to stop the spread of the virus.
Detailing the quarantine measures in a conference call with local media, Tiley said one of the seven infected people associated with the Grand Slam was a flight attendant.
“For the 1,270 (that arrived), having six positives is a low percentage so that’s a percentage to manage,” Tiley said, refuting some players’ claims that they were not made aware of the protocols before travelling to Australia.
Tiley said he had a call with 500 players to address concerns and the “vast majority” had been supportive of Australia’s strict protocols.
“The vast majority, most of them have been fantastic and been supportive,” Tiley earlier told the Nine Network, adding that it was an “initial shock” for the players trying to adapt to the strict rules.
