MELBOURNE, Australia – Tennis fans will be out of the Australian Open from 23:59 local time on Friday (7:59 am ET) as Victoria State prepares for a five-day closing in the midst of a growing COVID-19 group in the city’s suburbs.
On Friday morning, with the state’s active balance sheet at 19, the Victoria Council of Ministers met and decided that the safest route was to return to Phase 4 restrictions and re-place the Staying in a closing, for a minimum of five days, you will not be able to attend the Australian Open until the quarter-finals of the second week.
“The UK strain is moving at a speed that has not been seen anywhere in our country, and that is the advice our health experts have given me,” Prime Minister Victoria said on Friday. , Daniel Andrews. “As for tennis performance, I’ll let them talk, [but] sporting events will function as a workplace, but not as entertainment because there won’t be a crowd of people. ”
“I understand a lot of people will be worried and anxious, but I’m sure if we stay together, this short, sharp switch will be effective. I want to be here next Wednesday announcing that these restrictions will apply.”
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said event organizers had the potential to play in a bubble environment.
“The game will continue, the players will compete in a bubble that will be no different than what they have been doing for the last year,” Tiley said. “Those who will be allowed on site will be players and direct support teams, as well as staff members who are unable to do their work from home … The essentials for the delivery of the event will be on site.”
The state outbreak began at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport last week and has now reached 13 cases, five of which were acquired locally on Thursday. All cases in the hotel are supposed to be the strain of the UK coronavirus, which is proving highly contagious and more difficult to contain than the original variant.
Phase 4 restrictions mean there are only four reasons for Victorians to leave their homes. They must give or receive medical attention; buy essential products or services; work or study (if you can’t from home); and to exercise, for a maximum of two hours daily. Crucially, professional athletes have been defined as ‘essential athletes’, meaning the Australian Open and other professional leagues and sporting events can continue.
The panic in the state had occurred on Thursday when the Brunetti cafeteria at Melbourne Airport Terminal 4 was added to the list of Level 1 exhibition venues, after there was a case on Tuesday afternoon. recently confirmed positive for the virus for more than eight hours.
Melbourne Airport confirmed that 29 domestic flights arrived and departed from the terminal during the period, before a deep clean-up of the area was carried out overnight.
The blocking announcement is a major blow for Tennis Australia, which has already faced the reaction of its “tough quarantine” of international player arrivals last month, in addition to having to deal with a daily attendance limit of 30,000 until the first week.
Victorian residents know closed life. Between July and October last year, the state stood in a strong blockade as it fought its second wave of COVID-19. The state’s active cases peaked at 6,769 on 7 August, but the number fell below three times on 17 October, leading to the Australian Open. , although a month later than initially planned.
Last September’s US Open in New York was played behind closed doors, while the following month’s French Open only allowed 1,000 spectators a day.