COVID spreads among Australian Olympic team

More than 40 Australian Olympians have tested positive to COVID and other respiratory illnesses at the Paris Games.

Swimming Australia’s head coach Rohan Taylor has revealed some swimmers raced with COVID during their nine-day program at the pool.

While some swimmers drew from races including Lani Pallister and Ella Ramsay, others competed with the virus.

Zac Stubblety-Cook, silver medalist in the men’s 200m breatststroke, was among those who continued to compete despite testing positive for COVID.

The Australians have two PCR testing machines at the athletes village which Taylor and team chef de mission Anna Meares say have been crucial in minimizing the spread of COVID.

“That turns around the results in 45 minutes, which allows the medical team to support our athletes as quickly as possible,” Meares said on Monday.

“You come here and you do all the preparation and planning and sometimes health can be the thing that can tip it one way or the other.”

The Australian team’s medical director Carolyn Broderick said 84 PCR tests had been performed at the village.

Dr Broderick said “about half” of those tests had recorded positive results to COVID and other illnesses such as Influenza A.

“We can into these Games knowing that there would be some infectious illness,” Dr Broderick said on Monday.

“Anywhere where you have got 14,500 people living in close confines, sharing bathrooms, bedrooms, dining halls, you can expect some transmission.

“One of the keys that we had is on-site PCR machines… we get an answer within 45 minutes.
“And that allows us to arrange appropriate quarantining if required but also targeted therapies on athletes very shortly after they have had their first symptoms.

“One of the great things has been the selfless attitude of a lot of athletes…not really worried about themselves but thinking they’re sharing a room with someone who is competing in the next few days and they want to minimize the risk for their teammates.”

Australian athletes have also avoided going to the dining hall at the village to avoid potential exposure.

Breakfast and lunch are prepared and eaten in the Australian allotment with only dinner taken in the dining hall.

“The ability to have meals without having to go into the village dining hall… has just been second to none,” Taylor said.

“And it has really helped us to continue to get through the competition and probably gave us a significant advantage over other countries.”

Australia’s campaign at the Paris pool ended on Sunday with the Dolphins winning seven gold medals, the nation’s third-best return at an Olympics.