An Australian water polo player was isolated at the Paris Games after testing positive for COVID-19, as confirmed by the country’s Olympic team chief, Anna Meares, on Tuesday. While the name of the athlete has not been disclosed, close contacts are being monitored and tested. Despite this, the team is continuing its training as planned. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were delayed by a year due to the pandemic and were held with limited spectators. This recent incident highlights ongoing concerns about COVID-19 at international events.
“We were due to have two players from water polo with us; however, currently, we have had one athlete from their team isolating with COVID, which was detected last night,” Meares said during a news conference. “As a precaution, they’re not joining us this morning. I need to emphasize that we are treating COVID no differently than other bugs like the flu. This is not Tokyo. The athlete is not particularly unwell and they are still training but sleeping in a single room.”
Meares also mentioned that the athlete’s teammates would wear masks and adhere to social distancing measures to mitigate any risk of further spread. “It was late last night when she presented with symptoms, and the good thing is that having our own testing equipment means that we can get that information really quickly and intervene both in diagnosis and treatment,” she added.
Regarding the athlete’s participation in future competitions, Meares stated, “We will wait until she gets the all-clear and we get the information from our chief medical officer, Carolyn Broderick.”
French Health Minister Frederic Valletoux has reassured the public that there is no significant risk of a major COVID cluster in France. “Of course, COVID is here. We’ve seen a small peak in cases,” he told the franceinfo broadcaster. “But we are far from what we saw in 2020, 2021, 2022.” Valletoux added that there is no current obligation to wear a mask, as the number of cases remains low. “Some precautions are being taken but, because the level at which COVID is spreading is very low, they depend on the organizers.”