Two men in their 30s and a man in his 50s currently in Victorian hotel quarantine have been confirmed to be carrying the mutant virus strain, which is up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original.
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The three men are not tennis players, but are connected to the Australian Open, according to COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV). All have been in hard lockdown since their arrival on January 15, and their cases were previously announced.
After a hotel quarantine cleaner in Brisbane was found to have contracted the more virulent UK strain of COVID-19 in early January, the Queensland capital city was plunged into a three-day lockdown due to fears of an outbreak.
“CQV can confirm that three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus have been found to have the UK variant of the virus B.1.1.7.,” the release on Saturday evening said.
“The residents arrived in Melbourne on a dedicated Australian Open charter flight on 15 January and returned their first positive tests on 15, 17 and 18 January.
“All three cases have been in hard lockdown since they landed in Melbourne.”
As of Saturday night, a total of 10 coronavirus cases have been linked to the Australian Open ahead of the tennis tournament’s start on February 8.
