The MCG has emerged as an exposure site for COVID-19 after a fan who attended a game over the weekend tested positive for the virus.
The patron attended the Collingwood vs Port Adelaide game on Sunday afternoon and were seated in zone 4, level 1 in the Great Southern Stand.
Fans who attended the game and sat in the same zone as the fan in question will be contacted to go and get tested and isolate so long as they scanned the QR code upon entry to the ground.
As a result of the growing cluster in Melbourne, Victorian-based teams who are playing interstate this weekend look set to depart earlier than expected to avoid any border closure issues.
SEN's Sam Edmund is reporting that Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn will all depart Melbourne in the coming days.
"Carlton has been told it must fly to Sydney three days early and will leave Melbourne this afternoon," Edmund said via Twitter.
"As the AFL scrambles to stay ahead of the city's Covid-19 outbreak, the Blues have been told to follow Essendon with an early flight out of Victoria"
And now confirmation Hawthorn will be flying out for Darwin tomorrow morning - a day early - for the game against Gold Coast on Saturday. https://t.co/UNmGkeFljp
— Sam Edmund (@Sammy__Edmund) May 25, 2021
"Hawthorn will be flying out for Darwin tomorrow morning - a day early - for the game against Gold Coast on Saturday."
Essendon football boss Josh Mahoney told SEN Breakfast that the Bombers said the club found out last night that their original plans were no longer sustainable.
โWe got a call at eight oโclock last night to say our plans to travel on Friday had changed and weโre travelling this morning at 10:45 and going to Perth," he said.
โJust on the advice of the AFL and the WA government, so it was a bit of a quick ring around to the players and staff.
โWeโll be on a flight in a few hoursโ time.โ
Carlton released a statement on Wednesday morning confirming the team would be departing for Sydney earlier than anticipated.
Head of Football Brad Lloyd said the Blues' preparation would not be too affected despite the change in travel arrangements.
โAs we learned from last year, weโve always known weโve needed to remain agile and adaptable to any situation that may arise and this is a perfect example of that," he said.
โWeโll now arrive in Sydney a few days earlier than scheduled and continue with our preparations for this weekendโs game as normal.โ
The Club will today be traveling to Sydney following the latest COVID cluster in Victoria.
The team will prepare as normal for its weekend match against the Sydney Swans on Sunday at the SCG.
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) May 25, 2021
โFrom a community perspective, we appreciate whatโs happening in Victoria at the moment and trust the advice of medical authorities and hope this latest cluster gets under control as soon as possible," the statement continued.
Minister for Sport, Major Events & Racing Martin Pakula told media on Wednesday that as things stood there will be fans allowed at the footy this weekend in Melbourne.
