MELBOURNE, Australia – From the banks of the Yarra River to the vineyards of the Mornington Peninsula, news of the sultry Melbourne Park caused chills across the state of Victoria.
An employee at one of the hotels where players and officials were quarantined before the Australian Open had tested positive for coronavirus. The announcement, made on Wednesday, had an uncomfortable echo for the Melbourneians, who suffered three blocks, including one that lasted 111 days, to dominate the coronavirus.
“There is no reason for people to panic,” said Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s prime minister, on Thursday. But in many circles in this city, that button has already been pressed. The first tennis tournament each year is the crown jewel on the country’s sporting calendar, but even before the positive result broke through the 28-day streak of zero state broadcasting from the state, many Australians seemed in conflict over the progress of the event.
Ian Hickie, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Sydney, said Australia closed the country last year – at a tremendous cost to the economy and people’s mental health – “so we are spared the North American physical health disaster , Europe and South America. “
Risking to return these hard-won gains “just doesn’t make sense outside a very narrow business sector,” he said, adding, “I think it would be safe to say that most people are furious about going ahead.”
The letter sections of Australia’s newspapers in recent weeks have become a Greek chorus, with readers complaining about the hypocrisy of receiving international visitors while continuing to silence Australian citizens trapped abroad and about the dissonance of preaching about public health and safety while seeming to prioritize a world showcase event.
The tournament had planned to allow up to 30,000 paying fans per day at the venue, but the positive test prompted some ticket holders to request a refund on Twitter.
Six men’s and women’s fit events in Melbourne Park were suspended on Thursday, with matches scheduled for Friday. The Australian Open draw was also postponed for one day to Friday. Craig Tiley, chief executive of Tennis Australia, remained determined that the Australian Open would begin, as scheduled, on Monday.
“This is not a risk,” said Tiley. “There is no risk. There will always be risk. The goal is to minimize it as much as possible. “
Travel restrictions for a nation surrounded by water have helped Australia to get and keep the virus under control. There were 52 cases of coronaviruses active in the country as of Thursday and nine people in the hospital. With a population of 25.8 million people – about four million more than those living in Florida – Australia had 28,838 cases and 909 deaths related to the virus.
The fact that more than 1,200 visitors associated with the Australian Open, including those from countries where variants of the virus have been shown to be most transmissible, had exceptions to enter the country confused Hickie. “Our social cohesion and cooperation is not something you can buy, and the feeling that some people are just more important than others is an Australian concept,” he said.
In mid-January, when players settled into their mandatory 14-day quarantine – some happier than others – Australians seemed divided. Some were aligned with tennis and government officials who saw Victoria as a liberator, rescuing the international sport from the tyranny of the pandemic. Others believed that Australia’s position as one of the leading countries in containing the virus carried more prestige than its position as one of the four tennis Grand Slam host countries.
“There is a great analogy to forest fires,” said Hickie. “You went to bed and the forest fire was under control, and you woke up and your house caught on fire. The idea that you can control this virus has proven to be a fallacy worldwide, and we are not yet out of the crisis. But there is great pride in Victoria about the collective effort to get it right. “
For Melbourneians who have repeatedly, and resolutely, sacrificed personal comfort and convenience for the collective good, cheering on the sporting elite who fell by parachute in their city for a five-week run in individual glory may seem like a lot to ask.
Darren Scammell, who stopped as he walked through Federation Square, a normally busy meeting place in Melbourne’s central business district, said he had tickets to a session during the second week of the Open.
“I really hope that we in Victoria can control the outbreak, because we really hope to attend,” said Scammell, who works as an auditor and added that the players, in general, did not impress him very much.
“They are prima donnas,” he said, “and that’s not an Australian thing.”
Ashleigh Barty, from Australia, number one in the female world, said she felt for Melbourneians like Scammell. “They have had an extremely difficult period in the last six or 12 months, probably the most difficult of all Australian states,” she said.
Barty, a Queenslander who did not compete in 2020 after February because of the pandemic, said she had spent more than six months without seeing her Victoria-based trainer because of border restrictions between states. She considers it remarkable that the tennis world got the green light to converge on Melbourne for this year’s Australian Open, and just three weeks after its original date.
“It is a testament to everyone down here, to respect the rules and live according to the rules set by the government,” said Barty.
On Sunday, Perth, Western Australia, began a five-day blockade after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for the virus. Three days later, Australian Nick Kyrgios, the 47th place male player who also did not play in 2020 after February, was asked if he was concerned that the same thing could happen in Melbourne.
“Yes, I mean, I don’t want it to happen anywhere,” said Kyrgios, who added: “There is a lot of risk in all of this. I don’t understand what is so difficult for tennis players to understand. Like, you’re just a tennis player. Do you know what I mean? It is not life or death like that. “
A few hours after Kyrgios spoke, Andrews imposed stricter restrictions on Victoria, but stopped near a blockade. He restricted home meetings to no more than 15 people, made masks mandatory indoors, and delayed an expansion of capacity limits for offices that were scheduled to take effect next week.
“This is a case,” he said, adding, “There is no need for people to be alarmed.”
In a video call during the quarantine, Tiley said that the dark moments of isolation would be followed by an event that would entertain fans and safely.
“In the end, you will say, ‘Oh my God, I cannot believe that we have all achieved this.’ And this is the moment we are working on, ”said Tiley. “If we have massive interruptions that don’t get us to that point, that will be unfortunate. But I don’t think it will happen. “