Two days before the start of Millennium Estoril Open , the about 150 persons acting in the tournament undertook the mandatory PCR tests to COVID-19, at Hospital da Luz Lisboa drive-thru, while players and respective teams started being tested in the places where they are staying. For the sixth consecutive year, Hospital da Luz is the official medical service accompanying the tournament, providing direct support to players, but this year also ensuring the implementation of infection prevention and control, including the compliance with the official rules in Portugal and the specific rules for ATP tournaments. The regular testing “is a large-scale operation” – involving also Synlab, the laboratory that works with Hospital da Luz –, as stated by Carlos Palos , the intensivist physician coordinating Luz Saúde infection control group, who is also the official tournament infection control officer in Millennium Estoril Open, assisted by other three physicians. The major tennis event in Portugal will happen, this year, with no public present, which does not simplify the task for the organization and the Hospital da Luz team. Tests, daily surveys and screening Throughout the competition, between April 24 and May 2 , at Estoril Tennis Club, all the elements of the organization, as well as players and respective technical teams will have to undertake tests every four days – which means that, at the end of the event, the total of tests conducted (PCR and antigen) will surmount 700 . Exempted from the obligation of tests are only those having had COVID-19 in the last three months; Players and respective technicians carry out the tests in the official hotel of the event, but if they opt for staying in other places (rented places, for instance), they will have to take COVID-19 tests every two days; The Hospital da Luz physicians, physiotherapists, massage therapists and nurses ensuring the operation of the two medical centres during the tournament, will also be tested every two days, since they will be in permanent contact with the players; All the participants in the tournament – players, elements of the teams and organization – will have to complete a survey daily, via electronic application, to detect COVID-19 symptoms. The results recording and communication are coordinated by Hospital da Luz, in strict confidentiality; At Estoril Tennis Club , with separate entry and circuits for players and organization elements, temperature screening will be conducted; Those who reveal symptoms or test positive to SARS-CoV-2 will comply with the rule in effect in Portugal, which is more restrictive than in other countries: 10-days isolation. “All cases will be reported on the SINAVE platform”, explains Carlos Palos. Staff and hotel preparation In the weeks preceding the start of the tournament, the team of Carlos Palos and Hospital da Luz have reviewed the security plans with the hotel, where the majority of players will be staying, “having been reviewed and reinforced certain aspects related with the behaviour of the teams, cleaning and ventilation”; As for the people working in the tournament, it was distributed information on the rules of hand sanitization, obligatory use of mask and physical distancing, as well as regarding what to do in case of development of symptoms or contact with COVID-19 cases; Regarding the drivers of the tournament official vehicles, specific instructions were provided – such as, for instance, opening the car windows when transporting people, never taking off the mask, not touching people or goods transported, and regularly disinfecting handles and other surfaces of contact. Strict rules also in the courts The players and respective technical teams (with two elements maximum) will be circulating “in a bubble” , with differentiated entry/exit and circuits. Moreover, the premises used by the tournament and the players themselves are subject to an extensive and detailed set of rules, namely: No one is authorized to enter the Estoril Tennis Club without a negative Covid test; The cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces (benches, chairs, desks, referees’ stations and microphones, umbrellas, etc.) is constant, including of the nets in the courts after the games; The boxes of balls can only be opened by staff members using mask and gloves; Each player has a waste bin, bags for clothing and four designated containers (throughout the court) to deposit the towels used during the game; If they wish to, athletes and respective trainers may exercise “outside the controlled environment” (meaning, the hotel and tournament premises), but only for an hour a day and until 8 p.m. They cannot have meals or order food from outside the hotel, being “strongly recommended” to opt for eating in their rooms; In a modality that has for distinctive feature the fair-play between players at the end of each match, the handshake is now “strongly discouraged” by ATP.
