Anisimova confirms positive covid-19 test through Instagram comment
The 19-year-old confirmed her positive Covid-19 test result in the comments of an Instagram post, four days after the fact. Given the lethal nature of this contagious virus, is that good enough?
The 19-year-old American revealed on Instagram, in the comments section of one of her posts, that she had tested positive before the Abu Dhabi tournament in early January 2021
When it was revealed on Monday that Amanda Anisimova had withdrawn from Abu Dhabi after the draw was made due to illness, many suspected that she had become the latest in a long list of positive Covid-19 test results that have hit the tour since the coronavirus pandemic began.
On Friday, thanks to a comment made by the 19-year-old on her Instagram feed, we learned that that is likely the case.
https://twitter.com/Diego_Barbiani/status/1347642842836033536
“Yup” is apparently all the confirmation we’ll get, for now. The tours are not required to report when a player has tested positive for the virus, and not all players want to go public with that type of news. We didn’t learn about Fernando Verdasco’s positive Covid-19 test this summer until he had trouble with another positive test at Roland-Garros and was eventually disqualified from the tournament.
Most players seem more than willing to announce the news on their social media channels, and that makes the tennis community wonder: why don’t they all do it? Tennis Majors reached out to the WTA and ATP see if it had any guidelines on the subject, and we’re waiting to hear back.
Journalist Ben Rothenberg and others have expressed a desire for more transparency when it comes to Covid-19, given the potentially lethal nature of the disease, and what it could mean to other players, staff and members of the public if they unknowingly cross paths with a player that has tested positive without going public with the news.
Would be nice to see more coronavirus transparency from the tours than having to rely on a player maybe responding to an Instagram comment. https://t.co/4awVyzCniE
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 8, 2021
Meantime, we are all but certain that Anisimova is the latest player to test positive for Covid-19. We wish her good health and a speedy recovery.
Apparently, she’s quite eager to get her season started.
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