Australia Olympic team rocked by sudden health scare in Paris as training halted

A second member of the Australian women's water polo team tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Paris Olympics, team chef de mission Anna Meares has confirmed.

Meares revealed on Tuesday that the player was experiencing mild symptoms and is isolating inside the Olympic Village, with the Opening Ceremony scheduled for Friday. Just a few hours after the first COVID case was announced, a second member's positive status was announced.

"The player who has tested positive to COVID-19 last night has chosen not to train with her teammates this afternoon," the AOC statement said. "All close contacts have been tested.

"A second player who was a close contact has also tested positive, but that player is well enough to train. The water polo team followed the AOC respiratory illness protocols correctly which allowed for early diagnosis and treatment. A reminder has been sent to all teams to reinforce the protocols."

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"This is a high-performance environment, so we are being diligent, but I need to emphasize we are treating COVID no different to other bugs like the 'flu - this is not Tokyo,' Meares added. "We've been able to get a really good handle on what might be going about.

"What was very positive about this situation and this athlete was that they followed the protocols ... and at the first sign of symptoms they acted responsibly and presented themselves to the medical team to be tested."

The players are expected to be able to resume training at some point later this week. Australia's first women's water polo game is on July 27 against China. A second game will be against the Netherlands on July 31, followed by Canada on Aug. 2.

Meares also addressed an alleged sexual assault of an Australian woman in Paris. French police are investigating the allegation leveled at five men.

Australian athletes are being advised to be careful when traveling outside of the Olympic Village. “What information we’re passing onto our athletes is that security presence is really, really high and that’s in order for them to act as quickly as possible to keep them safe,” Meares said.

“We don’t yet have any feedback from our athletes that they have felt unsafe - we are encouraging them, if they go out of the village, not to go out on their own, not to wear (their) team uniform, just to wear plain clothes. We’re just waiting on further information on the actual case itself.”