We’ve reported how Australia’s fully-vaccinated Olympians are in the midst of a two-week quarantine since returning home from competing at the Games in Tokyo, Japan. The swimmers are specifically stationed in Howard Springs, Northern Territory while they await the signal to be able to celebrate their best-ever Olympic swimmer performances with family and friends.
All-told across all of Aussie sport there are 56 South Australians waiting to return to their home state, with 16 currently quarantined in Sydney. For those 16 non-swimmers, the South Australian government has chosen to impose a further mandatory quarantine period, bringing their total string of lockdown days to 28.
The Australian Olympic Committee has voiced concern over the mental and physical health toll a near-month-long quarantine will have on these already drained 16 athletes having just competed on the biggest sporting stage.
AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll states,”Our concern from the outset has been the mental and physical health of the athletes and we have respected the 14 day quarantine period.”
“But without the detailed reasons, it’s very hard to understand why these athletes are being required to undergo this additional quarantine period. A reduction in the period of quarantine would be a good outcome.”
Additionally, Carroll says, “This group of Olympians is acutely aware of the needs and daily health practices to protect themselves and those around them from the dangers of COVID. To qualify for the Games, compete and return home has required absolute compliance with the Tokyo and AOC biosecurity requirements.
“The AOC has sought to return as many athletes as possible to Australian states prepared to accept them however, the inherent restrictions around caps made avoiding Sydney logistically impossible.”
The AOC appealed to the South Australian government and was denied, with the organization candidly stating today, “The AOC remains profoundly disappointed that the South Australian Government will not reverse its decision to impose a 28-day quarantine period on South Australian Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympic Games.”
This cant be legal lol
Its because Sydney is a covid hotspot, most states have the same 2 week rule for anyone returning from Sydney at the moment.
it is entirely unscientific to quarantine athletes who have repeatedly tested negative for 28 days…….
Because they acted like it was gone 2 months ago lmaooo
It’s just the South Australian government, not the Australian government. Apparently the new rules were imposed as theses 16 athletes were about to land in Sydney. There was no option to land in Adelaide anyway. We want to keep Australia safe but this is overkill.
in good news, I think they are allowed to quarantine at home.
28? Why not 38, 50, etc? AUS is beyond madness.
Good point . SA has huge land & ought just stick them out in the sticks with supplies & a tent . Presently after the rain there are massive flocks of budgies & plenty more. They can run around & keep fit , go hunter gatherer , star gaze at the wonderful outback sky , just be happy to be alive .
I think a year would be fine .
the AOC are at fault here. someone who was quarantining in adelaide tested positive on july 19, and they had contracted the delta variant in sydney. this resulted in a new cluster in adelaide which sent the whole state into a 1-week lockdown. very understandable that they’re being extra cautious with people coming from sydney, and it’s just poor planning on the AOC’s part to quarantine the athletes there anyway, since that’s the area in aus with the worst covid situation right now. the only athletes who should’ve returned to sydney are those who are based there. period. and the AOC is whinging about how hard done by the athletes are by this when its the fault of the administrators… Read more »
yea but at some point they will need to face covid unless they want to be closed off forever. What’s their plan? no international travel/tourists for 1-2-5-10 more years?!?!
COVID is going to be around for a while. Surprisingly it hasn’t yet magically disappeared and isn’t going to any time soon. Things are going to be different for a while.
Yes, that’s should be the whole advantage of living on an island during a global health crisis.
Australia hasn’t been able to vaccinate most of their population yet. The athletes have said several times that it was a privilege to have the chance to be vaccinated before the Olympics.
Australians are happy with being closed off- Western Australia is totally closed to the world (more or less) .. they had the first post COVID election there and the Govt won 53 seats to six seats, biggest win in history.
I see a difference between coming from Sydney and coming from a quarantine in Sydney.
Just quarantine them in Brisbane until 2032 at this point
What percent of the Aussie team is vaccinated?? If they are vaccinated and have to quarantine for 28 days, then either (1), they aren’t actually “following the science”, or (2), evidence is starting to suggest that our COVID vaccines actually really suck, and might only provide a marginal advantage over being unvaccinated. In that case, not wanting the vaccine doesn’t sound as crazy as it did, doesn’t it?
I am fully vaccinated, and would’ve made the same choice again. But if the internal and external benefits of getting a vaccine are so small as this ruling by the AUS gov’t suggests, then I can understand if a person wouldn’t want to get a vaccine that has been rushed to… Read more »
Being vaccinated does not mean you cannot spread the disease…or get it..it lessens the severity of symptoms if it is caught. So vaccinated athletes can still bring it into the community.
What the hell