Melbourne, Australia’s second most populous city, entered a lockdown of at least five days from midnight on Saturday (13) to local time (10am Friday in Brasilia). This would, for example, prevent viewers from attending the Australian Open until Wednesday (17).
As the clock approached midnight, the public had to leave Rod Laver Arena, the main site of the Grand Slam tennis complex, due to restrictive measures.
The takedown took place under Boo and some resistance during the match between Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz. The duel went to the fifth set, after the world No.1 opened up 2–0 and felt hip pain, but managed to recover and advance to the round of 16.
One of the last matches with the public on Friday night in the country, was a five-set battle between domestic tennis player Nick Kyrgios and Austrian Dominic Thiem, ranked No. 3 in the world, which bested the third round.
However, the atmosphere of singing and shouting will not be repeated in the coming days. The Grand Slam game will continue as usual, until further notice.
A new set of coronovirus infections involving a quarantine hotel in the Victoria state capital Melbourne arrived in 13 cases, with authorities tightening measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews announced a blockade for the state, allowing outings only for essential activities.
“Andrew stress is increasing at a speed never seen anywhere in our country, and that’s the advice I’ve received from our health experts,” Andrews said. “In terms of how to believe tennis, I’ll let them talk, [mas] Sports events will act not as entertainment but as a workplace, as there will be no crowd. “
The tournament began on Monday (8) and lasted until 21 February. As of this Friday, spectators were limited to 50% of the normal capacity for Grand Slams (up to 30 thousand spectators per day) and restricted movement within the premises, but could watch sports on unclothed courts, for example Are masks.
Andrews said, “We must recognize that there are more cases in the community that have had positive results, and that contamination is growing at a pace that has not been seen in our country in the past 12 months.”
“The game will continue, players will compete in a bubble more than they did last year,” tournament director Craig Tilley said. “Those who have authority on the spot will be players and direct support teams.”
Victoria suffered one of the harshest and longest quarantines in the world last year. It is the most affected state in the country, with a total of 28,879 cases of Kovid-19 and 909 deaths since the onset of the epidemic – the last in October.
Prior to the announcement, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered full government support for Victoria’s decisions to prevent the outbreak.
“We are working together [surtos] In the last few weeks in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and therefore a proportional response enables trackers to overcome them and achieve the same successful results that we have seen in other states.
