SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – Victoria state’s sports minister Martin Pakula said on Saturday that the Australian Open will be permitted to admit up to 30,000 spectators a day, which is 50% of the usual attendance, when the event gets underway on Feb. 8.
Over the last five days of the Grand Slam when there are fewer matches, the number of fans will be limited to 25,000. But the minister said the announcement would ensure some of the biggest crowds for the sporting event since the outbreak of the pandemic.
“It’ll 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 media persons
“It will not be the same as the last few years but it will be the most significant international event with crowds that the world has seen in many, many months.”
Pakula said the decision was proof of the commendable job done by the residents of the state in containing the spread of the pandemic after enduring one of the longest and strictest lockdowns.
The state has not reported a single case of local transmission over the past 24 days and the whole nation has not recorded a community case for 13 straight days.