Players exiting quarantine in Australia
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Australian Open players were given the green light to begin exiting COVID-19 quarantine yesterday after spending two weeks confined to a biosecure hub.
The first group among the 960 players, coaches and officials isolating at three Melbourne hotels were allowed to leave from 6pm local time, with the rest expected to depart by Sunday, Victoria state health officials said.
Players isolating in South Australia state, including Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, were also to be released ahead of an exhibition tournament in Adelaide today. Players will be free to move around the cities and surrounding regions so long as they abide by local social distancing restrictions.
Unlike the United States and European countries, which are battling to contain the virus, Australia has not had a case of community transmission for 11 straight days and residents have regained most of their pre-COVID freedoms.
Victoria said it had not recorded any new COVID-19 infections among the Australian Open cohort yesterday.
There remained a total of five active cases, who will need to spend longer in quarantine depending on when they tested positive.
Spain鈥檚 Paula Badosa was the first player to reveal she had contracted the virus when she tested positive on her seventh day in quarantine. She was moved to a 鈥渉ealth hotel鈥 last Thursday to begin two more weeks of isolation and complained about the conditions to Spanish media.
Some players expressed confusion over their scheduled departure.
American Tennys Sandgren, who was among the 72 players put into a stricter quarantine after passengers on their flights to Australia tested positive, was unhappy he would not be able to check out of isolation until today.
鈥淚 just found out we鈥檙e not going to be able to leave the room until midnight tomorrow which will put us out close to 15 days in this room,鈥 the former men鈥檚 quarterfinalist said in a video posted on Instagram yesterday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 also another day we can鈥檛 practise.鈥
Sandgren tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago before his flight from Los Angeles but said he was allowed to board following intervention from Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley.
Georgian Oksana Kalashnikova, the women鈥檚 world No. 63, was also unhappy with her scheduled departure.
She posted a meme on Twitter saying, 鈥淲hy??鈥 and wrote: 鈥淲hen Australian Government orders u to stay another extra day just because.鈥
A few of the top players in Adelaide, including home hero and women鈥檚 world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, will play in a charity exhibition in Adelaide today.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a really good day in Adelaide,鈥 said Barty, who plays Simona Halep in an evening match.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to get out there.鈥
Last year鈥檚 Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem plays Spain鈥檚 Rafael Nadal in the other evening match. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first day out of quarantine, the first match in front of a crowd for a long time, so I鈥檓 super excited,鈥 the Austrian said.
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