Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday night that a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter, who worked as a resident assistance officer at the tournament, tested positive for the virus. Until then, the state had not seen local transmission of the virus in 28 days.
New restrictions have now been imposed on the state’s 6.7 million inhabitants. Masks are mandatory in indoor public places and there are new limits on the number of people who can gather in a household.
Andrews said the new rules were implemented “with plenty of caution” and because of the possibility that the case could have been caused by a new strain of coronavirus – although he said genomic sequencing is needed to determine whether it was the case is not over yet.
The unnamed man last worked at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on January 29 and tested negative for the virus at the end of that day’s shift. However, he later developed symptoms and gave positive results on Wednesday.
As a result, Andrews said 500 to 600 people staying at the hotel were considered “close contacts” and would have to isolate themselves until they returned a negative test.
He said the situation should not have an impact on the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. Speaking on Thursday, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that of the 507 people tested, 160 were players.
Tiley said testing should be completed by 5pm local time on Thursday, saying players are “occasional contacts” and there is a low likelihood that any of them will be positive.
The draw for the Australian Open has been postponed for a day until Friday, while testing is underway.
The entire game at the Melbourne Park Tennis Center set for Thursday has been suspended to allow testing of players and staff. The head of Tennis Australia said the affected warm-up matches will be rescheduled with time allowed. “Everything remains as it is, just a day late, until a new notification,” Tiley said.
Running to the tournament was shaped by fears of the coronavirus. Upon arrival in Victoria, 72 players were placed in quarantine 14 days before the Grand Slam matches after the passengers on their flights gave positive results for Covid-19.
CNN’s Aleks Klosok and Hillary Whiteman contributed to the reporting.