Three people in hotel quarantine associated with the Australian Open tennis tournament have tested positive for the highly transmissible coronavirus variant linked to the United Kingdom, officials said on Saturday.
The three quarantined in Melbourne are not players, said the state agency responsible for quarantining overseas travellers. All have been in hard lockdown since their Jan. 15 arrival.
“Three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus have been found to have the UK variant of the virus,” COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement.
Victoria, Australia’s second most-populous state, recorded its 17th day without any new local infections on Saturday as officials focus on keeping the community separated from staff and players here for the Grand Slam tournament.
As many as 72 players have been confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks upon arrival and unable to train for the Feb. 8-21 event after passengers on three charter flights tested positive.
The lockdown has led to complaints from some frustrated tennis players, although others have urged their fellow competitors to show more respect for the efforts by Victoria state, when the Australian Open is to be held. It went through one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns last year to stamp out the virus.
Spain’s Paula Badosa on Friday became the first player to confirm a positive test for COVID-19 while in quarantine in Melbourne. On Saturday, Spain’s tennis federation apologised to Tennis Australia after complaining about the treatment of two Spanish players in quarantine. [L1N2JY040]
The Victoria quarantine agency said there were 10 active positive cases linked to the tennis in quarantine.
Three cases were recorded among international arrivals in hotel quarantine in Victoria on Saturday, the state’s health department said. One of those was associated with the Australian Open, the quarantine agency said.
Australia has fared better than most other developed economies in the pandemic through swift border closures, lockdowns, strict hotel quarantine for travellers and widespread testing and social distancing.
On Saturday, it logged a sixth straight day of zero coronavirus cases in the community nationwide. It has had 28,700 cases in total, the overwhelming majority in Victoria, and 909 deaths.
(Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by William Mallard)
In July last year, Teo Heng KTV announced that it will be closing down half of its 14 outlets in Singapore due to COVID-19. The post Teo Heng KTV’s Exit In S’pore A “Temporary Move” – Will Persevere And Hold On To 2 Outlets appeared first on Vulcan Post.
The Brotherhood is a volunteer group fixing potholes around Malaysia and educating on road safety, formed by director Lando Zawawi. The post These M’sians Really, Really Want To Fix Our Potholes—Even If It Makes Authorities Unhappy appeared first on Vulcan Post.
Sources familiar with the matter said that Grab is exploring a US$2 billion IPO in the United States this year. The post Grab Reportedly Exploring An IPO In The US, Could Raise At Least S$2.66B appeared first on Vulcan Post.
Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia recorded 3,631 new Covid-19 cases on Friday (Jan 22), bringing the total 176,180. It was the biggest daily rise since the first pandemic cases were detected in the country on Jan 25 last year. The country also recorded the most number of Covid-19 deaths in one day on Friday with 18, […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA To monitor changes to the coronavirus that could supercharge the pandemic or render vaccines less effective, scientists must sequence its genetic code to catalogue potentially dangerous mutations as they emerge. But so few countries are conducting and sharing surveillance that experts are as worried about the mutations they cannot see as those […]
Goh Chok Tong congratulated United States President Joe Biden on his inauguration, wishing him success as he assumes office. In a Facebook post on Thursday (Jan 21), the former Emeritus Senior Minister wrote: “I congratulate Joe Biden on being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States”. Mr Goh continued: “He has to […]
Singapore – A 57-year-old retiree living in Hougang Street 52 is said to have called the police eight times a day to complain about the noise levels coming from his upstairs neighbour. The story of Mr Lu was featured in Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao on Monday (Jan 18). The middle-aged man shared with the media […]