Following the announcement on Wednesday that a staff member accompanying the Australian cycling team to the recent UCI Track World Championships in Berlin, Germany, tested positive for coronavirus, Performance Director Simon Jones spoke to the media on Friday. He discussed the sanitation measures that were implemented within the team before and after the news.

"We first learned of [the staff member's] coronavirus symptoms on March 13," Jones told the media, including Cycling News, during a conference call. 'The staff member was tested on March 13 and tested positive on March 16. The staff member was tested on March 13 and tested positive on March 16."

"One of the support staff who went with the team to Berlin and came back with the team to Australia is based in Adelaide,"

Jones explained.

Jones explained that this person's role is actually quite "distant" in terms of regular contact with the athletes.

"They are part of the support staff that shares our office, and we will be very discreet in the coming weeks and in the immediate future, so we will be changing the way we provide support," Jones said.

"But because of the timing," Jones said, "there is no concern about cross-contamination.

After the team returned to Australia following the track championships, the federation placed staff and athletes on a pre-planned vacation from the training environment in Adelaide from March 7-15.

"We did our own due diligence in terms of who was in contact, but in terms of the timeline that I have presented, I am confident that this staff member was not in close proximity to anyone else during the time that he was infected," Jones explained.

As a precautionary measure, a total of six team members, three athletes and three staff members, were also tested for coronavirus, five of whom tested negative.

Jones further elaborated on the team's efforts as the track athletes continue to train for this summer's Tokyo Olympics, which have yet to be postponed or cancelled.

"We are taking a number of steps to be cautious. We have restricted access to the podium group (a total of 19-20 able-bodied athletes and para-athletes)." We are going to make sure that the Adelaide Superdrome venue has very close support as well as coaches and other essential staff." [Many other staff will be working from home, obviously operating in more remote locations. It will also reduce access to enclosed spaces, which the Australian government recommends to reduce social distance. This includes the athletes' lounge and kitchen areas, and in the offices, everyone will be kept at least two meters apart

"So if we are allowed back into the building, we will ensure that there is enough spacing," Jones says.

"We will change the layout of the gym's workout area to minimize the risk of proximity.

"We're going to continue to monitor the situation. Extreme situations require extreme solutions, so we're going to be very careful and monitor it on a daily basis."

Jones also explained that many sanitation measures were already in place well before the coronavirus crisis. [At least a couple of years ago, we started a push specifically for Athlete Health to reduce the common upper respiratory infections that are common in athletes.

"That was some time ago, but I want to let you know that we have been promoting hygiene for quite some time and have actually stepped up our support for it recently. Of course, everyone needs to be reminded about health, hygiene, and behavior

"We had everything ready before the World Championships and all team members, including certain individuals who tested positive, wore masks on the way back from Berlin. So I am confident that we were far ahead of the government's recommendations in terms of advice, support, and education for our staff and athletes, especially in terms of hygiene," Jones said.

As for whether this summer's Olympics will be held as planned, so far the Japanese government still wants to host the games, but Jones said they need to be prepared for all scenarios.

"We're planning for the best, but we're also preparing for the worst," he said. And whether or not the Olympics will be held is obviously beyond our control." [Japan currently has fewer people infected than other countries, which may have something to do with it, but I don't want to comment on decisions that are out of my control. But we are preparing for the worst while planning for the Olympics to be held."

"I think everyone reacts differently in situations like this," Jones said. . but overall, given the difficult situation, everyone is doing really well, and there are no particular individual issues that we are worried about at this point."