NSW, Vic, Qld cases; US and UK deaths; Tennis whingers; COVID vaccines | Alds

Tennis Australia has disputed a media release from Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services that revealed two players had been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Victoria recorded four new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday – three linked to the Australian Open and two of those attributed to tennis players.
The new cases are a female in their 20s and two males in their 30s.
“While two cases of viral shedding were confirmed (Monday), this does not change broader assessment of the player group in hotel quarantine,” DHHS said.
“As yet, none of the three affected flights have been cleared as a result of the two reclassified cases.”

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But speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said the seven cases linked to the Australian Open did not include any players.
Mr Tiley also said the cases were not acute but likely viral shedding.
“Of those six (cases in the Australian Open contingent), plus one – which was the flight attendant – none of them are players. (It’s) player entourages,” he said.
“There have been some players on the viral shedding list. Again, I’ll have to leave it to Quarantine Victoria to give those numbers. They’re not big numbers. It’s a few.
“As far as (players) testing positive and going to the medi-hotel – no, none.”
Anyone who tests positive to coronavirus while in quarantine is moved to a medi-hotel, where they receive more intensive medical care.

Two Australian Open tennis players have tested positive to coronavirus.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) confirmed the positive tests tonight.
One non-playing participant, linked to the Australian Open, also tested positive.

This means there are seven positive cases now linked to the Australian Open.

The new cases are one female in their 20s and two males in their 30s.
“While two cases of viral shedding were confirmed yesterday, this does not change broader assessment of the player group in hotel quarantine,” DHHS said.
“As yet, none of the three affected flights have been cleared as a result of the two reclassified cases.”
Victoria has now gone 13 days with no locally acquired case but continues to see new cases in hotel quarantine.

Commonwealth chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly has high hopes our travel bubble with New Zealand could soon be reciprocated, and that a similar arrangement could soon be in place for some of our other Pacific neighbours.
Prof Kelly said the vaccine rollout would be crucial to reopening international travel.
National Cabinet – made up of Australia’s political leaders – asked the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee (AHPPC) to assess what countries could be green for travel.
“That was the assessment we did for New Zealand to start with. Every week I reassess that.
“Weekly, I do a formal report to decide whether that should continue or not and we look at a range of details that come from the New Zealand Ministry of Health. That’s been very successful, we have had tens of thousands of people who have come across the ditch in the last few months and not a single case.”

The AHPPC has done similar risk assessments on Pacific island nations for the Pacific Labor scheme but was still looking at establishing tourism bubbles.
“We haven’t found another green country at this stage, there are some that are very low risk and that is playing into discussions about how people from some of those countries should be quarantined to make sure it is safe.”
Prof Kelly said they were “definitely open to other bubbles” and Australia would “welcome New Zealanders to look at our epidemiological situation and have something more reciprocal than what we have got”.