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Australian Open Bans Spectators As State Enters 5-Day Lockdown

The stands at the Australian Open will be looking quite empty for the next five days after officials in the state of Victoria called for a five-day lockdown of the region. Spectators won't be allowed at Melbourne Park during that time.
Paul Crock
/
AFP via Getty Images
The stands at the Australian Open will be looking quite empty for the next five days after officials in the state of Victoria called for a five-day lockdown of the region. Spectators won't be allowed at Melbourne Park during that time.

Officials in Australia's state of Victoria mandated a five-day stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of the area's growing number of coronavirus infections.

But the tennis must go on.

Tennis Australia, the organizers of the Australian Open, had allowed 30,000 fans to attend matches thus far. But under the new restrictions, the stands will sit empty.

The state government said it detected 13 cases of the highly contagious U.K. variant linked to a Holiday Inn in Melbourne. Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said Friday five new cases were reported in the previous 24 hours. The government reported 19 total cases.

"It shows just how incredibly infectious this virus is. And our public health team tell us it's only getting faster," Andrews said during a press conference announcing the lockdown.

Canceling in-person attendance for one of tennis's Grand Slams highlights the difficulties facing organizers of international sporting events during a global pandemic.

Tennis Australia already faced serious backlash from Australian Open players for the 14-day quarantine required for international athletes who arrived last month.

The world's top men's singles player, Novak Djokovic wrote to Tennis Australia officials with a list of "demands," according to ESPN, which included asking to have players moved to "private houses with tennis courts." Djokovic later said his requests were "misconstrued."

The Australian Open, which is almost at the halfway point of two weeks of competition, will continue uninterrupted, according to the event's organizers. Ticket holders for matches during those days will get a full refund.

The lockdown

Under the lockdown, Victoria residents must stay at home and can only leave for essential reasons, such as grocery shopping and caring for family.

Andrews called the lockdown a necessary "circuit breaker" to stop further spread.

This is Victoria's third major lockdown. The region eradicated community spread of COVID-19 cases after a major lockdown from July through October last year.

Andrews urged Victorians to remain resolute for the next five days.

"But the most important thing you need to know is this: this is our opportunity — our brief window — to starve the virus of what it wants most. Movement," Andrews said. "By limiting our movement, we limit the potential spread of the virus. And by going hard and going early — we're giving ourselves every opportunity to get in front of this."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jaclyn Diaz is a reporter on Newshub.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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