THE Fremantle Dockers have confirmed the player sent for a COVID-19 test did not have the virus.
Fremantle Dockers chief executive officer Simon Garlick confirmed the negative test on Tuesday afternoon.
“I am very pleased to confirm that the player’s test result has come back negative,” Garlick said.
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READ NOW“Given the club’s position in the community, we made a decision on Monday afternoon to take a very conservative approach even though the player did not fit all the WA Health Department criteria for COVID-19 testing.
“We understand the high level of interest surrounding one of our players being sent for precautionary testing for COVID-19.”
The player presented with flu-like symptoms after being in contact with a friend who had visited China, even though that person had self-isolated for 14 days following his return to the country and hadn’t displayed any symptoms of the virus.
“It was another two weeks after the isolation period that the friend visited the player late last month,” Garlick said.
“We felt it was important to be proactive and diligent to ensure the safety of our players, staff and broader community.”
Dockers captain Nat Fyfe said he learned of the incident late on Monday night and expected the incident to be the start of something much bigger in 2020.
“It’s all unfolded pretty quickly,” he said.
“We’re stepping through the process at the moment and hopefully we’ll be cleared in the coming hours.
“(The player) has gone through the standard protocol, absolutely maximum measures of protection so far, and it’s likely that he’s going to be not positive.
“At this point we just wait and see what comes back.”
Fyfe said there had been no talk of other players being quarantined and said he wasn’t overly concerned about the incident at this stage.
“All the advice that we’ve been given is that it’s a non-panic situation,” he said.
“At the moment it (the virus) is in its infancy and it’s just starting to affect people.
“We’re remaining calm, stepping through the protocol and the doctors have told us not to stress too much.”
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