The Australian water polo team has reported that a player from their team has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The female player, who has not been named, has self-isolated in her room in the Olympic Village since receiving the positive test according to the reports from her close contacts.
Paris 2024 will be thrown open to spectators without any restrictions, unlike the Tokyo Olympics, which were held without spectators due to the risk of COVID-19 spread.
Australia’s Olympic team chief, Anna Meares, said they are taking the issue seriously: “I need to emphasize that we are treating COVID no differently to other bugs like the flu. This is not Tokyo, The athlete is not particularly unwell and is still training but sleeping in a single room.”
Meares mentioned that the athlete’s teammates would implement safety measures such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
“It was late last night when she presented with symptoms, and the good thing is that having our testing equipment means that we can get that information quickly and intervene both in diagnosis and treatment. In terms of competitions, we will wait until she gets the all-clear.”
The Health Minister of France Frederic Valletoux reaffirmed that it is not an alarming issue that should be a cause of concern.
“There is no big risk of a cluster, Of course, COVID is here. We’ve seen a small peak in cases, but we are far from what we saw in 2020, 2021, 2022. There was no obligation to wear a mask because the number of cases was still low.”
Cyclists Affected by COVID
Two weeks ago, five athletes participating in the Tour de France tested positive, most notably Danish rider Michael Morkov, a two-time Olympic medallist. He has now withdrawn from the race. The 39-year-old cyclist has dropped off from the race, which is disappointing as this is expected to be his final season before retirement.