Play suspended at Melbourne Park after hotel worker tests positive for COVID

All competition at six Australian Open tuneup events scheduled for Thursday was called off and 520 people who flew to Melbourne for the year's first tennis major were ordered to isolate after a worker at one of the tournaments’ quarantine hotels tested positive for COVID-19.

The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Any players, coaches or officials who quarantined at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne were deemed to be casual contacts of the 26-year-old infected man and required to remain in their accommodation until they test negative.

Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews said he called a late-night news conference on Wednesday to announce the case “through an abundance of caution."

Speaking before all of Thursday’s play was postponed, which he acknowledged was a possibility, Andrews said of the Australian Open: “At this stage, no impact on the tournament proper.”

He held another news conference early on Thursday local time for an update, confirming close family contacts of the infected work had tested negative and contact tracing was advanced.

Everyone in the city will be required to wear masks while indoors.