Fears of a new ‘Aspen cluster’ after a member of Melbourne’s most exclusive tennis club plays two matches while infected with coronavirus
- Member of the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club has tested positive to coronavirus
- Played matches at the ultra-exclusive club on Friday and Saturday while infected
- Members fear it could turn into another Aspen cluster if player infected others
- Cluster formed in March after rich skiers went on a trip to Colorado and got sick
Well-heeled members of Melbourne’s most prestigious tennis club are rushing to testing clinics amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak in its ranks.
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club warned its members that a player enjoyed several matches and hung out at the clubhouse while infectious.
Rich and famous members of the ultra-exclusive club now fear it could be the new ‘Aspen cluster’ if the player infected others.
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club warned its members that a player enjoyed several matches and hung out at the clubhouse while infectious
An email to members late on Monday night warned the infected person played matches on Friday at 2pm to 3pm and Saturday 9am to 10am
An email to members late on Monday night warned the infected person played matches on Friday at 2pm to 3pm and Saturday 9am to 10am.
‘We wish to advise that a member who played tennis at the Club… has reported a positive test to Covid-19,’ it read.
‘Records show that the member entered the clubhouse immediately after play on both days, wearing a mask on both occasions.’
It was not clear when the member developed symptoms, but they would have been tested Saturday afternoon at the latest.
The infected player went into the clubhouse after their matches but was at least wearing a mask
Maria Sharapova during the Kooyong Classic tennis tournament on January 14, hosted at the club’s stadium that was also home to the Australian Open from 1972 to 1987
Kooyong was home to the Australian Open from 1972 to 1987 and has a secretive list of wealthy members from Melbourne’s elite.
Tennis matches were allowed under Melbourne’s Stage 3 lockdown and only banned from Monday night when Stage 4 prohibited all recreational activity.
Melburnians are only allowed to exercise with one other person for an hour a day. Kicking a ball around is allowed but tennis is explicitly banned.
Kooyong’s positive test follows a member of Sydney’s prestigious men-only Australia Club dining while potentially infectious last week.
Marketing analyst Eliza Honan (pictured) was holidaying in Aspen in March when she was one of several well-heeled Melbourne skiers who caught coronavirus
Several of them contracted coronavirus on the holiday to the famous snowfield in Colorado and infected dozens of friends at society events back in Melbourne
A potential outbreak among the Kooyong’s ranks has been compared with a group of about 20 well-heeled skiers who took a ski trip to Aspen in March.
Several of them contracted coronavirus on the holiday to the famous snowfield in Colorado and infected dozens of friends at society events back in Melbourne.
Marketing analyst Eliza Honan was one of the few skiers to speak out about the trip, insisting she immediately self-isolated.
However, others were accused of spreading the virus throughout Melbourne’s richest suburbs and on the Mornington Peninsula.