Another flight to Melbourne in which someone on board tested positive for Covid-19 has resulted in 25 more players facing a strict two-week, no-practice quarantine in advance of the Australian Open.
This third positive-test flight originated from Doha, where players had been competing in qualifying for the season’s first Grand Slam. Among those impacted are qualifiers Carlos Alcaraz, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Elias Ymer, Michael Mmoh, Viktor Troicki, and Bernard Tomic.
Previous flights from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi had forced 47 players into non-stop quarantine upon arrival in the Victorian state. Although no players on the flights in question tested positive, they are all considered close contacts. As such, over the next two weeks they are not afforded the five-hours-per-day window for practice and training that other players are enjoying.
But even those in Melbourne who are more fortunate don’t have it as well as top players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep, Serena Williams, and Naomi Osaka in Adelaide. Although they also have to abide by the five-hours rule, they have a gym at their hotel and therefore can do physical training outside of the five-hour window to allow for as much practice as possible during their five hours away from the hotel.
Hoping to see improved quarantine conditions for all, Djokovic reportedly sent a letter to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley listing various requests. The top-ranked Serb called for fitness and training options in hotel rooms, food similar to what is offered at tournaments, additional Covid-19 testing and a reduced length of the quarantine for all who test negative, visits between players and coaches for all who test negative, and private houses with tennis courts for as many players as possible.
It’s not going to happen.
The state of Victoria has been implementing some of the most severe protocols in the entire world throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the government is not about to relax now. Quarantine Victoria (CQV) commissioner Emma Cassar was quick to shoot down Djokovic’s demands, per reports by local media.
“It’s a firm no from me,” Cassar said.
Brett Sutton, the Chief Health Officer in Victoria, added, “Everyone finds quarantine tough, but Victorians have copped this as much as anyone in the world…. Victorians have done it tough and they don’t expect special rules for anyone else.”
In other words, it’s groundhog day in Melbourne: two more weeks of hard quarantine.
it continues….