Formula One: Three team staff in isolation over virus fears as critics blast move to proceed with Australian GP

MELBOURNE (THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS) - Three Formula One team members have been placed in isolation on Wednesday (March 11) amid concerns that they may have contracted the coronavirus, as the decision to go ahead with the Australian Grand Prix comes under renewed fire.

One member from McLaren and two from the Haas teams were evaluated at the Melbourne circuit's isolation unit, established by F1, after showing fever symptoms at the track.

The team members have been tested for the virus and placed under self isolation at their hotels.

There will be major concern if their tests are positive having already been mixing in the paddock while carrying the virus, potentially seriously escalating the threat of the coronavirus preventing the grand prix taking place.

John Daley, CEO of the public policy think tank Grattan Institute, said: "We have taken an extraordinarily big risk in order to hold a car race. This risks taking us from a situation where we had virtually no community transmission to one where we are forced to shut down a lot of community activities to prevent a lot of people from dying."

Earlier on Wednesday, the words "STOP F1" were written in the skies above Sydney amid growing calls for season-opening race to be scrapped or barred to spectators due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Photographs of the skywriting were widely shared online but it was unclear who was responsible for them.

F1 organisers have already postponed the Chinese Grand Prix, the season's third race which was scheduled for April 5, while the Bahrain authorities said on Sunday that fans would be barred from the second round of the season on March 22.

The Australian Grand Prix authorities on Monday were adamant that Albert Park would welcome thousands of motor sport fans from Thursday, when practice sessions and qualifying commence for lower-profile touring car series.

The Australian health authorities are battling to contain community spread of the coronavirus, with infections mounting day by day and several schools forced to close in Melbourne and Sydney.

Australia had recorded 112 cases of the coronavirus as at 11am Sydney time (8am in Singapore) on Wednesday, up from 100 the previous day, the health department said. Three people have died from the disease in the country.

The coronavirus has infected more than 116,000 people and killed more than 4,000 around the world since it surfaced in China late last year.

More than 300,000 fans attended race week at Albert Park last year, according to the organisers' estimates.

With a prominent art festival in Tasmania and other local events cancelled in recent days, Australian media pundits have queried the safety of thousands of fans flocking to Albert Park.

"In the real world, the Indian Wells tennis tournament in the US has been cancelled, the Socceroos' World Cup qualifiers have been postponed, major club matches in Italy are being played behind closed doors, and the World Cup skiing finals in Cortina d'Ampezzo have been scratched altogether," Greg Baum wrote in Melbourne daily The Age on Tuesday.

"In the Melbourne Grand Prix world, it's see you in the champagne tent."