Australian (Open) Tennis and COVID-19

[lovetravellingoz]

As I have already posted all states do things, as they should, as part of their balancing act on Covid 19 and the economy.

NSW Health and NSW Gov in action today.

Matt Damon:
1/ Allowed into Australia
2/ And unlike AO participants exempted from HQ too





“Australia definitely is the lucky country, and I can’t wait to show my family Australia’s down to earth people, breathtaking scenery and diverse culture.”



Damon, his wife Luciana Barroso and their daughters will undergo standardised COVID testing under the direction of the NSW government’s COVID-19 quarantine program.

“The family will be entirely segregated for the period of their quarantine and will participate in standardised testing and monitoring, in full compliance with current NSW Government requirements,” said Dr Zac Turner, CEO of Concierge Doctors.

“NSW Police are also present to ensure the quarantine of the Damons is enforced. By undertaking quarantine in this way at their own cost, the Damons are subject to the same medical requirements that apply to everyone else entering NSW and importantly, their arrival in no way impacts the capacity available to bring Australians home.”


NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet applauded the arrival of the Damon family as part of the growing international film industry within NSW.

​

“The NSW Government is incredibly pleased to welcome Mr Damon and his family to NSW and proud to support the Australian film industry,” said Perrottet.

“In particular, the recent announcements by several studios and film production companies, including Marvel, represent a fantastic economic boom for NSW with numerous new jobs and opportunities for local NSW businesses and the likely positive effects on mental health that will hopefully come with increased job opportunities in the NSW community.”

 

[Pushka]

Hilarious reading Tomics girlfriend account of life in quarantine. There is no cleaner to clean up their mess and they have to make their own bed

 

[RooFlyer]

Actually with HQ yes it is just another day in Victoria and probably all locations that have HQ now in Australia. Everyone has lifted their game and that is a good thing.

As I have already posted all states do things, as they should, as part of their balancing act on Covid 19 and the economy.

OK, but I would have thought being in Victoria, with the horrific history of COVID there, and as other Victorians have posted they definitely don't want anything which might send them back, you wouldn't want to import ANY cases of the virus needlessly, let alone people like Djokovic, who behaved in such a COVID-reckless way earlier, absolutely no care at all about spreading the virus. And to show what his current attitudes are:

Journalist Fernando Murciego reports Djokovic’s proposals include:

• Fitness and training material in all rooms

• Decent food for elite athletes, following players taking aim at the meals on offer

• Reduce the days of isolation for players in quarantine and carry out more tests to confirm they are negative

• Permission to visit your coach or physical trainer, as long as both test negative

• Grant both the player and their coach permission to be on the same floor of the hotel

• Move as many players as possible to private houses with a tennis court to facilitate training

Good on Premier Andrews ("Dan") for putting him in his place.

... and citing film crews and actors in other states (NSW) with exemptions as some sort of justification for Victoria, is just, well, pathetic. Similar actions of QLD previously have been rightly excoriated.

EDIT: PLUS NSW has had a policy of a 'relatively open' economy - contrast Victoria. AND NSW has managed past outbreaks pretty well, contrast ... yes, you guessed it.

The Victorian government can't have it both ways - keeping its own residents at bureaucratic bay "to keep Victorians safe" while opening the door to the virus with a tennis event, with the justification to the effect "If we don't host it, someone else will." But keep up the cheerleading ...

 

[jakeseven7]

All the tennis brats have realised they sound like spoilt children and read the room that they are in Australia now and live by our rules, not some other countries with sloppy covid proceedures and 1000's of cases a day....

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'Don't hate me!' Australian Open player Alize Cornet apologises for 'tactless tweets'​

French tennis player Alize Cornet has pleaded for forgiveness from the Australian people after branding the nation's quarantine measures "insane" in a Twitter post she has since deleted.

Cornet is one of 72 tennis players forced to undergo 14 days of hard quarantine after being on the same flight as a positive case.

But Cornet has since apologised, saying her comments were completely "tactless" and the reaction "made me realize what you've been through last year" admitting that players management were actually briefed on the scenario of being a close contact of a postive case.

In response to being placed into hard hotel quarantine, Djokovic reportedly wrote to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley with a list of suggested concessions for Open players in quarantine.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews minced no words in making his position on the matter abundantly clear this morning: “No.”

“People are free to provide lists of demands. But the answer is no. And that was very clearly put,” Andrews asserted.

French tennis player apologises for 'tactless' tweet as a player tests positive

French tennis player Alize Cornet pleads for forgiveness from the Australian people after branding quarantine measures "insane" in a Twitter post she has since deleted.

www.abc.net.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Australian Open player quarantining in Adelaide returns negative test result​

A team member of one of the Australian Open tennis players quarantining in Adelaide has returned a negative COVID-19 test result, after previously testing positive.

SA Health authorities believe the misleading result is linked to a previous infection and that the person concerned is shedding the virus.

The person is not infectious and is not being counted in SA's case total numbers.

'The answer is no': Daniel Andrews' stern rebuke to quarantining Australian Open stars

The Victorian Premier says "the virus doesn't treat you specially, so neither do we", amid claims from some players that they were not made fully aware of quarantine rules ahead of the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne on February 8.

www.abc.net.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Victoria to boost hotel quarantine capacity after Australian Open​

Earlier, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said Victoria would be able to offer more places in international hotel quarantine after the Australian Open, using staff recruited and trained for the grand slam tennis tournament.

Ms Cassar said once the Australian Open was done, more than 1,000 staff hired for the tournament would be used to boost capacity for returning international travellers.

"After they [the staff] go through their final testing to make sure that they are safe, we will look to increase our daily cap numbers," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"We will have a ready-trained pool of people who can increase that daily cap so we can bring back more Victorians in a quicker period following the Australian Open."

She said authorities were still working on exactly how many more places would be made available, but she hoped to have a number by the end of the week.

Mr Andrews confirmed he had struck agreements with the Prime Minister about Victoria lifting its capacity in hotel quarantine.

"Tennis Australia are essentially paying for a system that will mean a whole bunch of staff are trained and it will mean that we are able to step up and take more returned travellers than we'd otherwise take," he said.



So the AO will help to increase the numbers of Australians that can return to Australia.

 

[Lynda2475]

Lots of videos being posted of room bound players slamming tennis balls into windows and against walls, wonder who covers the cost of any damage this may cause when an errant ball breaks something?

Seems like poor planning from the players not to bring some fitness equipment (be it weights, resistance bands, step, or arrnage exercise bike etc) for their rooms knowing that even if they did 5 hours court practice theyd still have 19 hours a day in their rooms.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Lots of videos being posted of room bound players slamming tennis balls into windows and against walls, wonder who covers the cost of any damage this may cause when an errant ball breaks something?

Tennis Australia,

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Victoria to boost hotel quarantine capacity after Australian Open​

Earlier, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said Victoria would be able to offer more places in international hotel quarantine after the Australian Open, using staff recruited and trained for the grand slam tennis tournament.

Ms Cassar said once the Australian Open was done, more than 1,000 staff hired for the tournament would be used to boost capacity for returning international travellers.

"After they [the staff] go through their final testing to make sure that they are safe, we will look to increase our daily cap numbers," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"We will have a ready-trained pool of people who can increase that daily cap so we can bring back more Victorians in a quicker period following the Australian Open."

She said authorities were still working on exactly how many more places would be made available, but she hoped to have a number by the end of the week.

Mr Andrews confirmed he had struck agreements with the Prime Minister about Victoria lifting its capacity in hotel quarantine.

"Tennis Australia are essentially paying for a system that will mean a whole bunch of staff are trained and it will mean that we are able to step up and take more returned travellers than we'd otherwise take," he said.



So conducting the AO will help to increase the numbers of Australians that can return to Australia.

 

[Lynda2475]

Earlier, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said Victoria would be able to offer more places in international hotel quarantine after the Australian Open, using staff recruited and trained for the grand slam tennis tournament.

Funny that this has become policy only after a reporter asked them why they werent planning to re-use these staff to increase capacity yesterday.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Victoria to boost hotel quarantine capacity after Australian Open​

Earlier, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said Victoria would be able to offer more places in international hotel quarantine after the Australian Open, using staff recruited and trained for the grand slam tennis tournament.

Ms Cassar said once the Australian Open was done, more than 1,000 staff hired for the tournament would be used to boost capacity for returning international travellers.

"After they [the staff] go through their final testing to make sure that they are safe, we will look to increase our daily cap numbers," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"We will have a ready-trained pool of people who can increase that daily cap so we can bring back more Victorians in a quicker period following the Australian Open."

She said authorities were still working on exactly how many more places would be made available, but she hoped to have a number by the end of the week.

Mr Andrews confirmed he had struck agreements with the Prime Minister about Victoria lifting its capacity in hotel quarantine.

"Tennis Australia are essentially paying for a system that will mean a whole bunch of staff are trained and it will mean that we are able to step up and take more returned travellers than we'd otherwise take," he said.



So the AO will help to increase the numbers of Australians that can return to Australia.

well that's good news- so when is the tournament done?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Funny that this has become policy only after a reporter asked them why they werent planning to re-use these staff to increase capacity yesterday.

So a journalist asks a questions means that no one was planning it? What was the precise answer and from whom?


Personally the announcement was not at all a surprise to myself as I suggested exactly this last Weds.

 

[Pushka]

Australian Open player quarantining in Adelaide returns negative test result​

A team member of one of the Australian Open tennis players quarantining in Adelaide has returned a negative COVID-19 test result, after previously testing positive.

SA Health authorities believe the misleading result is linked to a previous infection and that the person concerned is shedding the virus.

The person is not infectious and is not being counted in SA's case total numbers.

'The answer is no': Daniel Andrews' stern rebuke to quarantining Australian Open stars

The Victorian Premier says "the virus doesn't treat you specially, so neither do we", amid claims from some players that they were not made fully aware of quarantine rules ahead of the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne on February 8.

www.abc.net.au

Maybe Djokovic party?

 

[tomlee1986]

I bet Dan Andrews only wanted the staff for AO, but not after until the reporter asked him that question

 

[oznflfan]

well that's good news- so when is the tournament done?

Really don't care for Australian Open this year with COVID situation.

Is it just me that every time I see AO I automatically think Adelaide Oval, then have to correct myself for Australian Open?

 

[SydneySwan]

An analysis of Dr Novax’s request:

Paging Dr Djokovic: public health guru pens prescription for lockdown fever

Well-known public health expert Novak Djokovic’s ideas for easing the pain of players consigned to lockdown should be taken seriously. Obviously.

www.smh.com.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I bet Dan Andrews only wanted the staff for AO, but not after until the reporter asked him that question

Well if you are correct then that is amazingly quick work.

Over a 1000 staff and ScoMo all agree to everything within a day with absolutely no advance notice.

1,000 staff hired for the tournament would be used to boost capacity for returning international travellers.​

​

I would tend to believe that someone was already working on it, either that or the Public Sector has really ramped up their efficiency.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Ya just have to love Dan at times with comments like this...

”Daniel Andrews says Australian Open players are free to make demands while quarantined, after Novak Djokovic sent a list of demands to the tournament organiser. However, the Premier says the answer will be no.”

 

[Must...Fly!]

​

So the AO will help to increase the numbers of Australians that can return to Australia.

And it wasn't done a month earlier because the government wanted the tennis players here.

It's like the chicken and egg. They could have done this at any point in the past x number of months. Instead they're doing it after the Aus Open?

The state government appears to have jumped left, right, back and forth to avoid questions over the wisdom of holding the tournament but found a happy way to explain it by claiming the cap will go up after this. And then like good little sheep, we are all expected to clap the wonderful government instead of asking the obvious - Why wasn't this done months ago?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

And it wasn't done a month earlier because the government wanted the tennis players here.

It's like the chicken and egg. They could have done this at any point in the past x number of months, but instead decided to save face instead of admitting their ridiculous error in deciding to host the tournament this year.

So the plan as announced was to start at 160 per day in Dec and to ramp up later.

ie Vic DHHS presser on 18 Dec

International arrivals will initially be capped at an average of 160 passengers per day, with the program to be continually assessed before a decision is made to increase the number of arrivals.

And there have been various others from time to time.


Last Thursday an announcement again that they were working on increasing international arrivals in Vic



Today: announcement that AO trained up staff to be used after the AO



But hey, lets us all go with instead that this was all cooked up after a journalist only asked the question yesterday.