Steve Larkin
(Australian Associated Press)
Australia’s Olympic swimmers will soon be tested for COVID-19 but fears have eased that five athletes were potentially exposed to the virus.
Five swimmers – Kyle Chalmers, Mack Horton, Madi Wilson, Tamsin Cook, and Zac Incerti – visited Magnetic Island in Queensland on Sunday.
The island has since been listed as an exposure site because a hospital worker holidaying there has tested positive to the Delta variant of COVID-19.
But the five swimmers, who had been staying in Townsville, were not at the island at the same time as the infected person.
“Members of the Townsville group … visited outside of the low-risk exposure period that was updated on the Queensland Health website last night,” a Swimming Australia (SA) spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“(They) have not visited any other (exposure) locations as identified by Queensland Health for the region.”
Australia’s 35-strong swim team for next month’s Tokyo Olympics have been fully vaccinated.
They are all now in Cairns for a training camp starting on Saturday.
The five swimmers who visited Magnetic Island are being separated from the other athletes as a precaution.
The entire Olympic swim team will be tested for coronavirus on Wednesday but it was as yet unknown when they would receive their results, the SA spokesperson said.