The Australian Government decreed a “hard lockdown”, which will take effect at 11:59 p.m. this Friday, Australian time, after the positive for COVID of an employee of the Brunetti’s cafeteria at the Melbourne airport, who could have been in contact with hundreds of travelers.
In principle, and in the absence of an official statement, the Australian Open is not in danger, but from the day of this Saturday and, at least, until next Thursday, there will be no spectators at the tournament. As for the players, they will only have permission to go from the hotel to the tournament and vice versa. And security measures will be extreme, such as the use of masks at all times and under all circumstances.
The Australian authorities do not want the situation, which they had exemplarily controlled, to get out of hand after this new case and that of another worker in a quarantine hotel, the Holiday Inn. Public gatherings are prohibited and no people cannot move more than 5 km from their home. There are only four reasons to be able to leave home: shopping for essentials, taking care of someone, being an essential worker, or exercising.