5 Members of the Australian Olympic Women’s Water Polo Team Test Positive for COVID-19

Five members of the Australian women’s water polo team have tested positive for COVID-19 and are isolating in the Athlete’s Village in Paris.

“We treat COVID no differently to any other respiratory illness, but we want to ensure that we have our protocols working as well and dealing with these illnesses and minimizing them is a part and parcel of every Olympic Games,” Australia’s chef de mission Anna Meares said Wednesday.

“More broadly, we have our respiratory illnesses protocol in place and we have reinforced with all of the teams as they arrive into our village,” she said. “Two basic rules around that really simple hygiene practices are effective. And if you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms, get tested.”

While the severity of the disease that ground the world to a halt in 2020 and 2021 has generally decreased (official counts record about 350 death daily around the world, down from a peak of over 15,000 daily in 2021), the disease can still spread rapidly and cause symptoms that can impact athletes’ performance.

Meares said that other members of the team are wearing masks and adhering to social distancing measures, and that the whole team was also tested. Athletes who tested positive have been allowed to continue training with their team when they feel well enough to do so and are isolating outside of training.

This comes after a social media dustup last week when Australian swimmers wore masks while traveling to the Paris Olympics in an effort to avoid catching respiratory illnesses as a summer wave of the disease spreads across the world.

The members of the team who tested positive have not been named, but represent almost have of the 13-person roster for Australia at the Games.

The Australian women were the 2000 Olympic champions in water polo, but have not medaled since London in 2012. Their most recent international podiums include bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Australia beat traditional powerhouses The Netherlands in the 5th place game at the Olympics 14-7, while the US beat Spain 14-5 for gold. Hungary beat out the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee 11-9 in the bronze medal game.