Hotel quarantine boss says rules for tennis players ‘definitely’ won’t be relaxed

The woman in charge of Victoria’s hotel quarantine program says there’s no chance tennis players in hard lockdown will be let out early.

There are currently 72 players in hard quarantine and unable to leave their hotel rooms for 14-days.

It comes after COVID-19 cases emerged on three charter flights carrying Australian Open players and support staff.

Commissioner for COVID Quarantine Victoria, Emma Cassar says players in hard lockdown will not be allowed out of their hotel rooms early under any circumstances.

“It’s a definite no from me,” she told Neil Mitchell.

“We’re not modifying our program.

“We understand that the 14 days is really tough. We are here to work with the players and Tennis Australia to make that as pleasant and not impact their training as much as possible, but we’re not taking risks on community safety.”

Ms Cassar confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in two hotel quarantine workers in the returned traveller program — a police officer and a nurse — were false alarms.

The pair returned weak positive results on saliva tests on Saturday.

Further testing has revealed neither worker has COVID-19.

“I’m happy to say they’re both negative,” Ms Cassar said.

“Those staff were isolating … the nose/throat swab has come back negative for both staff.”

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Image: Asanka Ratnayake / Getty