Australia's Winter Olympics curlers to leave China prematurely after Tahli Gill tests positive to COVID-19

Australia's curlers will fly home to Australia on Sunday, cutting short their maiden Winter Olympics campaign after Tahli Gill tested positive to COVID-19.

Olympic debutants Gill and Dean Hewitt were due to play their final two matches in Beijing on Sunday but they have 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 have wavered between positive and negative during her time in Beijing and she has been managed as a «close contact» which has meant restricted movements and twice-daily testing.

Team chef de mission Geoff Lipshut said it had been a «negotiation» with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the local organising committee to keep her in the competition.

The results of Gill's most recent test meant Olympic officials would not allow her to play in the final two round-robin ties with Switzerland and Canada.

«The Australian Olympic Committee has made the decision to organise for Tahli and Dean and Peter the team manager to return to Australia,» Lipshut said.

«Tahli has registered a number of positive COVID tests as well as negative and has been managed through the close contact program over the last couple of days.

»That's been something that they've had to contend with as well as participating.

«She has been free to participate up until this point, but with the most recent test there was a chance she would be moved to an isolation hotel, and with two games left we've asked Tahli and the choice is to facilitate her return home.»

Gill has been showing no symptoms. Lipshut said the medical advice was that she was at the end of the infection cycle, which meant she was free to board a flight later on