The Australian Open was again thrown into chaos on Wednesday with up to 600 players and officials told to isolate and get tested after a worker at a hotel they are staying in contracted Covid-19.
Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews said the man last worked at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne on January 29 and anyone there was considered a casual contact.
More than 1,000 players, coaches and officials jetted into largely virus-free Australia last month for 14 days' lockdown ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year.
The Grand Hyatt was one of the designated hotels used.
"There is a number of about 500, 600 people who are players and officials and others who are casual contacts," Andrews said in a late-night press conference.
"They will be isolating until they get a negative test and that work will be done tomorrow."
He did not expect the precautionary move to impact the Australian Open, which is scheduled to start on Monday.
However, all competition at six Australian Open tuneup events scheduled for Thursday was called off.
While most players were allowed out to train during their lockdown, 72 were confined to their Melbourne hotel rooms 24 hours a day after eight positive Covid-19 cases were detected on the charter flights that brought them to Australia.
Aggressive restrictions on incoming travel have helped keep the coronavirus at bay in Australia, making it one of the countries that is still able to have fans at sports events.
Andrews said tennis was not the most important issue.
"I must say that is important to us but the issues are much broader and that is about public health and public safety," he said, but added: "This is one case, there's no need for people to panic."
PAST 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNERS
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2012 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2011 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2010 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 3 (Kroos 4', Ramos 30', Marcelo 37')
Eibar 1 (Bigas 60')
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
