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SYDNEY – The Australian Open will be able to accommodate up to 30,000 fans a day, about 50% of usual attendance, when the Grand Slam kicks off on February 8, Victoria’s state sports minister Martin Pakula said on Saturday.
The cap will be lowered to 25,000 during the final five days of the tournament when there are fewer matches, but Pakula said the announcement would secure some of the biggest crowds for a sporting event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It will mean that during the 14 days, we will have up to 390,000 people here in Melbourne Park and that is about 50% of the average of the last three years,” he told reporters at the tournament venue.
“It will not be the same as in recent years, but it will be the most significant international event with crowds the world has seen in many, many months.”
Pakula said the decision was a testament to the work the people of Victoria had done to contain the new coronavirus after enduring one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world.
It has been 24 days since Victoria reported a locally acquired COVID-19 infection, while Australia as a whole recorded 13th full day without a community case on Saturday. The Australian government said the country was still on track to begin its vaccine rollout in late February despite reports of supply problems in Europe.
More than 1,000 people, players and their entourage, were forced to undergo 14 days of quarantine upon arrival in Australia ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year. – Reuters
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