Two positive cases for Covid-19 have been detected among the players newly arrived on Australian soil.

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William WEST / AFP

The inevitable happened….

Two first cases of Covid-19 were recorded among Australian Open players on Tuesday, as criticism mounted against the attitude of those arriving from abroad for this grand slam tournament.

Of the three new cases recorded, two - men in their thirties - are therefore players, said the Ministry of Health of the State of Victoria, bringing to seven the number of total contaminations detected among the thousand people who arrived especially the last week by charter flights on the island-continent.

In addition to the two players, there is a woman in her twenties linked to the tournament, according to the authorities.

A car park transformed into a giant sports hall for players in Melbourne.

Social distancing respected.



🎥 IG ugohumbert pic.twitter.com/kbdp8ZJQoD

- Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) January 18, 2021

The prestigious Melbourne tournament is due to start on February 8, three weeks late.

His outfit involved a huge logistical organization to allow the arrival, from abroad, of players in a country which has so far succeeded somehow in controlling the epidemic.

And this massive arrival of people from regions of the world much more affected by the pandemic is causing concern in Australian opinion, especially in Melbourne, a city which in October emerged from four months of strict containment.

72 players confined

All the players and their companions, who arrived on Australian soil at the end of last week, are confined for 14 days in their hotels, according to the pre-established protocol which provides for an exit authorization for five hours a day to train.

But 72 players have been placed in strict isolation, without any exit authorization, for having been in contact during their flights to Australia.

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