New Zealand doubles player Artem Sitak has added a fresh perspective to the Covid-19 quarantine debate firestorm that has engulfed the build-up to the Australian Open.
Sitak was one of the 47 players on the two flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne that included four passengers who have tested positive for coronavirus.
The players have now been forced into 14 days of hard quarantine in hotel rooms which will greatly affect their preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam.
Some players have complained of quarantine torture and others have claimed that they weren’t aware of the risks before travelling to Australia – or that only sections of a plane with confirmed cases would then be forced to isolate.
Women’s players Yulia Putinseva and Sorana Cirstea said that they may have skipped the Australian Open had they known there would be such strict rules on COVID-19 close-contacts.
“What I don’t understand is that, why no one ever told us, if one person on board is positive the whole plane need to be isolated. I would think twice before coming here,” Putinseva wrote on Twitter.
But Sitak exploded some myths in a video shared on social media.
“I wanted to clarify something,” Sitak said from his hotel room.
“We had a call with Tennis Australia about a month ago and not a lot of players were on that call, which was surprising to me.
“But hey, that’s how it was.
“Basically Tennis Australia, the organisers, they told us the risks that we were going to be undertaking, and they did mention that if somebody tests positive on the flight, it’s going to be up to the health authorities to decide whether to quarantine all the flight or just isolate compartments of the plane.
“Now in our case, where the flight attendant tested positive, of course the whole plane has to be quarantined.
