AAMI Park shut down after Rebels fan gets coronavirus

AAMI Park was shut down for a high-level cleaning response after confirmation a fan who attended last Saturday’s Melbourne Rebels game had contracted coronavirus.

A fan who watched the Rebels beat the Lions last Saturday has contracted coronavirus

AAMI Park was shut down on Wednesday for a high-level cleaning response after confirmation a fan who attended last Saturday’s Melbourne Rebels game had contracted coronavirus.

All four sporting clubs which use the precinct — the Rebels, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Football Club — were briefed by the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust on the action and protocols all players and staff should follow.

A 50-year-old man attended the Rebels win over the Lions on Saturday night, having flown home from the US that morning. He sat on his own and MOPT officials, along with Vic Health, have been working with the man to find out who was in the vicinity.

The Rebels players, who have a bye this weekend, were all given guidance from medical officials to ensure they avoided becoming infected before returning to training on Saturday.

“It’s probably the first case at any sporting event which brings the whole coronavirus in to a major reality for us,” Rebels chief executive Baden Stephenson said.

“Our club doctor had been working with the chief medical officer from Rugby Australia and we had quite a detailed guidance pack for our players, as well as doing an audit to make sure we understood where they were going and who they were seeing, to make sure they didn’t come back infected.

“And we decided to come up with some precinct policies we would all abide by.”

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Team meals will be moved from the AAMI Park cafe in to the players area and visitors are being kept to a minimum. An open training session at Moorabbin was cancelled.

The gym at AAMI Park is also being limited to use by athletes from the tenant clubs only.

An A-League clash between Melbourne City and Western Sydney is scheduled for AAMI Park this Saturday and is set to go ahead.

The Rebels will host the Sunwolves next Friday night. The Japanese team has been in Australia for a month, unable to return home due to the coronavirus and could spend as many as 10 weeks on the road with two home fixtures already moved to Australian locations.

A two-week tour to Argentina and then South Africa for the Rebels later this month will still go ahead but with strict travel protocols.

Rugby Australia and SANZAAR, which runs Super Rugby, were also planning to introduce daily temperature checks and distribute infra-red thermometers to each team as a proactive measure.

Herald Sun