SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian Open will be allowed to admit up to 30,000 fans per day, around 50% of the usual attendance, when the Grand Slam kicks off on February 8, state sports minister Victoria Pakistan said Saturday.
The limit will be reduced to 25,000 over the last five days of the competition when there will be fewer matches, but Pakula said the news would ensure that some of the largest crowds would be in for a sporting event since the pandemic began. COVID-19.
“It will mean that, over the 14 days, we will have up to 390,000 people here at Melbourne Park and that’s about 50% of the average over the last three years,” he told reporters. at the competition venue.
“It will not be the same as the last few years but it is the most important international event with a population that has seen the world in many, many months. ”
Pakula said the decision is a testament to the work done by the Victorians in introducing the new coronavirus after surviving one of the longest and toughest locks in the country. -world.
It is 24 days since Victoria reported a locally acquired COVID-19 outbreak, and Australia as a whole posted a 13th straight day without a community issue on Saturday.
The Australian government said the country remained on track until the vaccine was rolled out from the end of February despite reports of supply problems in Europe.
More than 1,000 people, players and their entrants had to go through 14 days of quarantine when they arrived in Australia ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Most were evacuated from their rooms for up to five hours per day for training and gym work, but 72 players remained in tight locks after fellow passengers on their flights to Australia get a good diagnosis for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Despite bites from some at the start of quarantine, competition leader Craig Tiley said he was “particularly proud” of the “playgroup”, most of which were out of quarantine by the end of Saturday. “I saw a few of them in the morning and contrary to what some players said 10 days ago, most of them – 99.9% – are completely happy to be out and very grateful for our efforts to protect them, ”he said.
Local health authorities said Saturday that they were still managing five active COVID-19 tennis-related cases, one of which was a player.
Paula Badosa of Spain, the world number 67, was the only player to announce a positive test in Melbourne. It has a few more quarantine days to complete.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Edited by William Mallard and Jane Wardell