Melbourne prepares for Australian Open quarantine

The city of Melbourne is preparing to receive some 1,200 tennis players and members of international delegations who will be quarantined before the Australian Open, between February 10 and 22, authorities reported Tuesday.

The first athletes are expected to arrive from this Thursday on charter flights and since then they will have to spend 14 days isolated in one of the three hotels authorized in the city, where devices and personnel have been placed to control compliance with the measures.

“We have implemented the strongest and strictest rules in the world that apply to tennis,” said Australian Victoria State Police Minister Lisa Neville., speaking to reporters in Melbourne, referring to the quarantine.

The regional minister indicated that Each hotel will have its own training facilities in Albert Park and the National Tennis Center, while each tennis player, official or companion who goes out will have limited movements, permanent surveillance during travel and will be obliged to undergo daily examinations to rule out COVID-19.

If any of the participants of the Australian Open tests positive during the flight that takes them to the oceanic country, they will be transferred to another hotel and put in strict isolation.

The measures implemented for the Australian Open come after The city of Melbourne will overcome its second lockdown in November, which began in July, after soaring cases of covid-19 as a result of failures in the containment of the virus in the quarantine centers for international travelers.

At present, Australia fights a virus outbreak in Sydney and tries to contain the spread of a highly contagious strain in Brisbane, the first and third most populous cities in the country, respectively.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia accumulates more than 28,600 cases of covid-19, which includes 909 deaths and more than 310 active infected.