The number of players in hard quarantine swelled to 72 ahead of the Australian Open after a fifth positive coronavirus test was returned from the charter flights bringing players, coaches, officials and media to Melbourne for the season-opening tennis major.,Australian Open organizers confirmed late Sunday that the latest case involved a passenger on the flight from Doha, Qatar to Melbourne who was not a member of the playing contingent, But all 58 passengers, including the 25 players, now cannot leave their hotel rooms for 14 days.,There were already 47 players, including Grand Slam winners, in hard quarantine after three positive tests were returned from a charter flight that arrived from Los Angeles and one on a flight that departed Abu Dhabi.,Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said organizers and players were forewarned there’d be a “significant risk” of exta restrictions being imposed if there were positive COVID-19 cases.,Tiley said there were no plans to delay the Australian Open any further — it’s already starting three weeks later than usual — although organizers were reviewing the schedule for the warmup tournaments starting Feb. 1 to find ways to make it easier for those players in strict quarantine to prepare.

A further 25 tennis players were forced into quarantine in Australia ahead of the season’s first tennis major after another positive coronavirus test on a charter flight, taking the total number of competitors isolating in hotel rooms to 72 on Sunday.The positive test came from a passenger who was not a member of the playing contingent, Australian Open organizers said.,But all 58 passengers, including the 25 players on the flight from Doha, Qatar that arrived in Melbourne on Saturday, now cannot leave their hotel rooms for two weeks.Organizers had previously announced that 47 players had to quarantine after four COVID-19 cases emerged from two other charter flights bringing players, staff, officials and media to Australia.Some players have expressed anger at being classified as close contacts merely for being on board those flights with people who later tested positive and, therefore, forced into a harsher quarantine than the broader group of players who’ll be allowed out of their rooms to practice for up to five hours per day.But local health authorities have said all players were warned of the risks in advance.,Those were among 17 charter flights from seven international destinations bringing up to 1,200 players, coaches, staff and officials into Australia for the tournament.Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said organizers and players were forewarned there’d be a “significant risk” of restrictions being imposed on players if there were positive COVID-19 cases.,She posted the notification that she and others who were on the flight received informing them of the quarantine.Being unable to leave their room would mean the only workouts they’d be able to have would be on exercise equipment left in the rooms of all of the players.Other players will be allowed to train under strict conditions and with supervision, although those practice sessions in Melbourne had been delayed while health authorities waited to receive all the coronavirus tests.Five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray and American Madison Keys haven’t traveled to Australia after testing positive in mandatory pre-flight checks.Tiley said there were no plans to delay the Australian Open any further — it’s already starting three weeks later than usual — although organizers were reviewing the schedule for the warmup tournaments starting Feb. 1 to find ways to make it easier for those players in strict quarantine to prepare.Tickets are on sale for the tournament, although the crowd capacity at Melbourne Park will be limited.Australia’s international borders are basically closed to travelers, although there are exemptions in special circumstances.,Each of Australia’s states and territories has its own border and quarantine rules, and those can change on very short notice.Victoria state, which has as its capital Melbourne, accounted for 810 of Australia’s 909 deaths from COVID-19, most of those during a deadly second wave three months ago which resulted in curfews and lockdowns for the city.Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are among a group of players involved in an exhibition event in Adelaide, South Australia state, on Jan. 29.

The production of the next generation of Matildas has become an increasing concern for Football Australia, whose recent Performance Gap study found a significant lack of depth below the current "Golden Generation" of national team players.,Generation next Sydney FC's Princess Ibini has already shown she's one to watch this W-League season.,(Supplied: Jaime Castaneda/Sydney FC)One of the areas of focus in the report was the availability of competitive match minutes for younger players, finding that the number of W-League minutes played by Australia's youth internationals (Junior Matildas and Young Matildas) has fallen from 60 per cent to 22 per cent over the last decade.,LoadingTrevor Morgan, Football Australia's technical director, says national team staff will be watching this season particularly closely with the aim of encouraging W-League clubs to continue giving opportunities to young Australian players, including the possibility of young player quotas.,(Supplied: Jaime Castaneda/Sydney FC)While they're hesitant to name names, both Dower and Morgan have been impressed with a number of W-League players who were called into the Women's National Team Talent ID Camp held in Canberra last year and who have translated those lessons and expectations into their current performances.

Four coronavirus cases have been detected from charter flights carrying tennis players, coaches and officials to Melbourne for the Australian Open, forcing 47 players into strict hotel quarantine.,However, the players from the two affected flights — arriving from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi — were in a strict 14-day quarantine, unable to leave their hotel rooms or practice, health authorities and tournament organizers said Saturday.,Health authorities initially said two positive COVID-19 cases — a coach and a member of the air crew — emerged from a charter flight from Los Angeles and the other positive test was a coach on the flight from Abu Dhabi.,On Sunday, Victoria state’s COVID-19 quarantine commissioner Emma Cassar told a news conference another positive test, from a member of a television broadcast team, had been returned off Los Angeles flight.,Tennis Australia confirmed there were 24 players on the flight from Los Angeles and 23 on the flight from Abu Dhabi.

The National Risk Index, put together by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is based on calculations by 80 experts over six years and reveals the risks for each county in the United States for 18 natural hazards including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, tsunamis and even winter weather.,The 18 natural hazards included in the index are avalanches, coastal flooding, cold wave (a cooling of air), drought, earthquake, hail, heat wave, hurricane, ice storm, landslide, lightning, river flooding, strong wind, tornado, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire and winter weather.,While the risk of hurricanes is not applicable in Los Angeles County, several other hazards are very high, including wildfires, earthquakes and river flooding.,Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Score: 57.72 Most at risk for heat waves, ice storms, lightning, river flooding, strong winds, tornadoes and winter weather.,The county is at very high risk of heat waves, ice storms, strong winds, tornadoes and winter weather.

Hours after landing in Brisbane, where the most dramatic of series in recent memory seeks closure, Josh Hazlewood sounded out a warning to the Indians: “We will be extremely dangerous in Gabba.,Months before the schedule of the series was fixed, Paine had requested Cricket Australia to start the series in Brisbane, before flinging a tongue-in-cheek dart at Virat Kohli: “Maybe we can get a pink-ball Test (in Brisbane) if he’s in a good mood.”,Like every arena in Australia, Gabba has a unique characteristic.,But not the Gabba, thanks chiefly to the father-son pair of Kevin Mitchell senior and junior, who nursed and nurtured the ground for close to four decades, before Mitchell junior retired in 2017.,Only Bellerive Oval, which has not hosted half as many Tests as the Gabba, has fewer double hundreds in Australia.

Roughly 277,000 Connecticut residents who are 75 years and older were allowed Thursday to begin making appointments online or via telephone for their COVID-19 vaccinations, with plans in the works to eventually phase in people 65 and older and anyone 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions that put them of greater risk of contracting the disease.,With reports of high call volume and busy website traffic on the first day of appointments on the state's platform, officials repeatedly urged people to remain patient, especially in the coming weeks and months as the newly expanded Phase 1B — the second phase of Connecticut's vaccination program — rolls out in different stages.,So far, more than 160,000 people in Connecticut have received the vaccine during phase 1A, which began Dec. 14 and includes mostly healthcare personnel, residents and staff of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and medical first responders.,In other coronavirus-related news:

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The Los Angeles Rams kept their quarterback situation under wraps for the bulk of the week, but moments before kickoff of their Super Wild-Card Weekend matchup with the Seattle Seahawks it was revealed that John Wolford would start.,As Wolford tried to go down head-first on the rushing attempt, Adams' shoulder made direct and hard contact with the top of the quarterback's helmet.,Right as Wolford took the hit, Goff began warming up, came in for two plays -- one of which was a seven-yard sack -- before the club made way for Matt Gay to hit a 40-yard field goal to cap off the 12-play drive.,McVay had noted that Goff was throwing the ball well in practice this week, but the club still gave Wolford the bulk of the starting reps. That seems to be due to the lack of confidence in Goff's effectiveness throwing the ball due to that injured right thumb, which was on full display during Los Angeles' following offensive possession where the veteran quarterback failed to complete a pass as the offense went three-and-out.,The broadcast noted that punter Johnny Hekker is the current in-game backup for Goff with Wolford out.

The city of Tampa will host their fifth Super Bowl on February 7, 2021.,With only 25 days until it all goes down, we came up with 25 things you need to know about Super Bowl LV in Tampa.,Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and the Host Committee will prepare for festivities with the Super Bowl Cleanup presented by Tampa Electric on Jan. 24.,Super Bowl LV marks the fifth time Tampa has hosted the big game, putting the city behind only Miami, New Orleans, and Los Angeles.,In 1991, Whitney Houston sang the National Anthem at Tampa Stadium prior to Super Bowl XXV.