A Fremantle AFL player has had a precautionary coronavirus test after he exhibited flu-like symptoms. The player, who was not named by the club, had contact with a friend who had been in China earlier this year.
According to the player, the friend underwent a 14-day isolation period after returning to Australia, during which he suffered no flu-like symptoms. The friend then travelled to Perth to visit the Dockers player.
“The player reported to club medical staff [on Monday] that he was suffering flu-like symptoms,” the club said in a statement. “As a precautionary measure and despite the fact that the friend had reported no flu-like symptoms, the player was immediately sent for testing and isolated.
“The test results are expected to take 24-48 hours. The club will provide a further update when more information becomes available.”
Dockers captain Nat Fyfe said he learned of the incident late on Monday night and expected the incident to be the start of something much bigger in 2020.
“It’s all unfolded pretty quickly,” he said. “We’re stepping through the process at the moment and hopefully we’ll be cleared in the coming hours.
“[The player] has gone through the standard protocol, absolutely maximum measures of protection so far, and it’s likely that he’s going to be not positive. At this point we just wait and see what comes back.”
Fyfe said there had been no talk of other players being quarantined and said he wasn’t overly concerned about the incident at this stage.
“All the advice that we’ve been given is that it’s a non-panic situation,” he said. “At the moment it [the virus] is in its infancy and it’s just starting to affect people. We’re remaining calm, stepping through the protocol and the doctors have told us not to stress too much.”
The round 11 match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide in China has been moved to Marvel Stadium because of the spread of the virus as more and more sporting events around the world are impacted by the spread of the virus.
Domestically, the 2020 NRL season kicks off this week with the possibility of games being played behind closed doors at some stage.
The Sydney Roosters, whose players have swapped handshakes for fistbumps at training this week, are maintaining a watching brief on the outbreak for now.
“We will see what happens regarding crowds and what happens if it gets into a team – what that means for a team,” co-captain Jake Friend said. “We sort of have to wait and see.”
Meanwhile, the Matildas’ Olympic qualifier in Vietnam on Wednesday will be played behind closed doors, while the Socceroos’ upcoming World Cup qualifiers have been postponed. Perth Glory’s Asian Champions League match against Ulsan Hyundai was also postponed due to travel restrictions imposed between Korea and Australia, while Hockey Australia has suspended all international travel for its teams until further notice.
The Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix, however, will go ahead in Melbourne later this week.