Australian Open to continue during Melbourne lockdown without crowd: Organisers

12-02-2021

Australian Open will be allowed to continue but without crowds for at least five days after the Victoria state government imposed a lockdown starting Saturday in response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a quarantined hotel. "Australian Open sessions today and tonight will continue as planned with COVID safe protocols in place," organisers said in a statement. "We are notifying ticket holders, players and staff that there will be no fans onsite at the AO for five days, commencing from Saturday 13 February." A fresh COVID-19 cluster linked to a quarantined hotel in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, reached 13 cases as of Thursday midnight as authorities rushed to quash the spread of the virus. Those infections include the highly contagious UK variant. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday announced a five-day, state-wide lockdown starting a minute before midnight local time, imposing new restrictions that restrict residents to their homes except for work, to shop for essential supplies, care or caregiving, and limited exercise. "We must assume that there are further cases in the community than we have positive results for, and that it is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country over the course of these last 12 months," Andrews told reporters. Asked about the Australian Open, which runs through Feb. 21, Andrews said the event was considered a workplace, subject to lockdown restrictions. "There are no fans. There are no crowds. These people are essentially at their workplace," he said. "The minimum number of staff for it to be run safely - not just for the virus but other reasons - will be there."