Australian Open to continue without fans as snap COVID-19 lockdown announced in Melbourne

The Australian Open will continue without fans in the midst of a five-day lockdown, as announced on Friday by the Melbourne city council in an attempt to control an outbreak of the coronavirus from the UK strain. The new outbreak was recently visible in the city’s north-western parts, casting doubts over the annual tennis tournament which began in the city earlier in the week.

The restrictions would
mean staying at home for close to five million people in the second-largest
Australian city starting Thursday midnight as per local time.

A limited number of activities, however, will remain
permitted.

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Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said the
restrictions were a necessity for stopping the ‘hyper-infectious’ outbreak
stemming from the newer, UK strain of COVID-19, which reportedly leaked from a
hotel being used as a quarantine facility near the city’s airport.

While Andrews did not specifically mention the
Australian Open, he did say that sporting events and businesses were among those
must be closed during the lockdown.

“These restrictions are all about making sure
that we respond appropriately to the fastest-moving, most infectious strain of
coronavirus that we have seen,” AFP quoted the Premier as saying, who highlighted
that the measure was temporary, while being confident of its success in the
bringing down infection rates.

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The aforementioned hotel gave residence to international
travellers undergoing quarantine which has so far infected 13 people.

Reportedly, the spread happened through a traveller
who spent some time at an airport café, potentially exposing fellow travellers
heading to other parts of Australia to the disease.

Melbourne had, in 2020, gone through another lockdown
for more than 100 days ending eventually in October, which aimed at preventing
an earlier spread that infected thousands of residents and caused death to
close to 800 people.