Collingwood staffer tests positive for COVID-19
A Collingwood staff member has been quarantined at his home after he returned a positive test for coronavirus following an overseas trip. And the Pies president Eddie McGuire has had his say on the matter.
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A Collingwood staff member has tested positive for coronavirus.
The Magpies have revealed that a staff member — who has been in isolation since recently returning from a trip overseas — had returned the positive test but maintained that there had been no contact with the football department.
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Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says the Magpie staffer who tested positive for coronavirus had no connection with the players or the club since returning from an overseas trip.
McGuire praised the staffer for staying away from the club after developing flu-like symptoms as he claimed some Australians had been fined $20,000 for not self-isolating after returning from overseas.
“(The staff member) had not had a connection since being overseas with anyone at the Collingwood Football Club or actually even coming near the place,” McGuire said on Fox Footy.
“So it is completely OK from a Collingwood point of view.
“We hope our staff member recovers quickly.”
McGuire said it was his understanding that some members of the public who had not followed the self-isolation mandate had been fined on Saturday.
“My understanding is there have been charges laid and fines of $20,000 today (on Saturday) for people who didn’t (self-isolate),” he said.
“It is about drawing the line as an example of people doing the wrong thing ... (people who think) they can thumb their nose at the situation.”
He admitted that the AFL competition would have been shut down for 30 days had the Collingwood staffer had had any interaction with the players.
“Had the staff member of Collingwood had contact with the Collingwood players, then we would be finished for 30 days ... the competition would be finished,” he said.
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A club-issued statement read the staffer was “recovering at home and being monitored by the Department of Health and Human Services.”
“Due to quarantine requirements, the staff member has, at no point, been in any contact with players or staff members at Collingwood since returning and has therefore presented no transmission risk to the club.
“The staff member will not return to the Holden Centre until medically cleared to do so.”