Australia's Winter Olympics curlers allowed to compete in China despite Tahli Gill testing positive to COVID-19

The Australian curling team will compete in Beijing on Sunday afternoon after being given a «late reprieve» in the wake of Tahli Gill's positive COVID-19 test.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced earlier on Sunday Gill and Dean Hewitt would forfeit their remaining matches and fly out of China.

But it released an update on Sunday afternoon, announcing Gill and Hewitt would be allowed to contest their match against Switzerland.

«Australia's curling team in the mixed doubles has been given a late reprieve and will compete this afternoon following an urgent meeting of the Medical Expert Panel (MEP) in Beijing,» an AOC media statement read.

«Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will compete in this afternoon's match against Switzerland.

»The Australian Olympic Committee has just received an email from the Chinese Public Health System advising that the pair can continue under the Close Contact provisions.

«The MEP examined Tahli Gill's CT values following PCR testing over the past 24 hours and determined that they fell into an acceptable range.»

Australia's chef de mission Geoff Lipshut said Gill and Hewitt were excited to be given the opportunity to continue competing.

«We are thrilled for Tahli and Dean and I am delighted that our headquarters team continued pressing her case, after earlier advice that the pair could no longer compete,» he said.

Prior to the development on Sunday afternoon, the AOC announced the Olympic debutants had opted to forfeit and fly out of China rather than have Gill go into an isolation hotel.

The 23-year-old originally contracted COVID-19 in Canada in December.

Her tests had wavered between positive and negative during her time in Beijing and she had been managed as a «close contact»,