MELBOURNE, Australia – Just over 12 months ago, Novak Djokovic was crowned Australian Open champion for the eighth time, American upstart Sofia Kenin secured her first victory in Slam, millions of dollars were raised for the forest fire aid fund of Australia and the tennis season was just beginning. And then the COVID-19 pandemic took over.
What started out as a quirky topic of conversation around Australia’s Open Water water coolers quickly became a concern about the virus starting to spread faster than many had predicted.
Three weeks after the best tennis players in the world arrived in Melbourne, one of the city’s other international events, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, was spectacularly canceled on Friday morning, leaving fans, organizers, teams and lost pilots.
The coronavirus has spread to Australia, as well as many other parts of the world. In Italy, morgues were overflowing, emergency rooms were full and there was a worrying lack of masks and other personal protective equipment.
The sport was not immune. The NBA season has been suspended, football players in Europe have tested positive for the virus, throwing leagues into chaos, and Australia’s own winter sports codes lasted just a week before being stopped.
Australia’s federal government closed its international borders shortly thereafter, allowing only the return of citizens and those with a valid reason to travel to Australia for the country. A “hotel quarantine” program was implemented by the states, whereby returning travelers were staying in hotels for 14 mandatory days, unable to leave their rooms before the two weeks had elapsed.
Australia has controlled the virus well, while many other nations around the world have fought. In March, Australia faced about 300 daily cases, but the largely successful quarantine program reduced that number to single numbers in May.
But in mid-June, an outbreak surfaced when a hotel manager picked it up from a returning traveler, and cases spread rapidly from there, with numbers rising from a single digit a day, to tens, to hundreds.
On July 21, 721 cases were reported in Australia – almost all of them in the state of Victoria. It has become the flashpoint for the state’s – and nation’s – response to the crisis.
The Victoria state government initially tried to block nearby social housing, where a concentration of cases was found. Then came postal code blocks, but it was finally announced that a “hard block” in the metropolitan area was the way to go to end the spread in Melbourne.
Masks were made mandatory when leaving home, while people could only leave for “four essential reasons” – taking care, buying groceries and medicine, an hour of exercise and going to work (essential).
A curfew was then established between 8 pm and 6 am. Residents could not travel beyond a 5-kilometer “bubble” around their place of residence. Visiting friends and even family members (outside the home) was prohibited, with heavy fines imposed on anyone who broke the rules. It was, at the time, one of the most severe blocks in the world.
Initially, it was thought that the rigid block would last for two weeks – a “life cycle” of the virus. But two quickly became four, which quickly became “undefined”. The city center was a ghost town, day and night. The restaurants were closed, except for delivery and take away. Non-essential retail stores were closed, forced to move online. Gyms, swimming pools, golf courses and tennis courts have been closed. Melbourne’s iconic trams, buses and trains – while still functioning – were empty. The streets were deserted.
The climate was not much different from how millions of other people around the world responded to the pandemic. Extremely optimistic people were shadows of themselves on Zoom calls or on social media, while frustrations ran rampant over the news detailing case numbers, government responses and the social side effects of the blockade. As the situation expanded from weeks to months beyond what was initially promised by the government, apathy began to set in – Melbourneians missed their families, their friends – a “normal” life. Confined in their homes 23 hours a day, every day, it consumed energy and mentally depleted.
The sport abandoned Melbourne. Its Australian rules football teams, its rugby and football teams were all forced to leave the state. The stadiums were asleep. It was scary. Victoria faced an uphill battle that was lost many times in many parts of the world.
It was not without vocal opposition to people’s freedom to be taken away, but the vast majority of Victorians put aside personal freedoms for a greater good. The government offered financial assistance to companies and workers who were forced to close as a result of the blockades.
People got involved and a parochial feeling of belonging to Melbourne emerged. The restaurants offered delivery packages with vacuum sealed treats designed to simulate the experience of eating out. Small companies offered same-day delivery of products and delivered the goods themselves to stay afloat. Home exercise routines circulated on social media and on sold-out fitness equipment across the state.
People have also embarked on the wave of emotions that accompanies all daily press conferences related to COVID-19, led by Premier Daniel Andrews. With an increase in numbers, anguish, sadness and anger surfaced, and it was difficult not to feel the negativity.
To give you an idea, on the same day (July 21) that Victoria (and Australia) registered 721 cases, France registered 584 cases.
In Victoria, things started to get better, slowly. The tough measures were working, despite fierce opposition from some parts of the media, the state’s political opposition party and the federal government. It was the collective efforts of 5 million Victorians that ensured that the number of cases went from an almost exponential trajectory in July to consecutive days of “zero new cases, zero deaths” in mid-October.
When Victoria provisionally reopened the non-essential hospitality and retail sector in late October, the state registered zero new cases twice that week.
France’s second wave peaked with 86,582 new infections recorded on November 7 alone.
Melbourne put the coronavirus under control and on its way to having what the premier described as a “normal COVID summer”.
And so the city’s revival began. Melbourneians could return to restaurants, pubs and cafes in limited numbers and for a limited time. Ordering food in restaurants was largely done by QR code, masks were used on tables and then could be set aside, and everyone had to check in wherever they went, in order to help local contact trackers in case of outbreak.
But the Band-Aid was not ripped off at once. The state government lifted its restrictions on segments; while restaurants reopened, having visitors at someone’s home was still restricted to just two adults a day, as modeling had shown that the virus was more likely to spread at home, where people were much more relaxed and closer.
On November 24, the state recorded zero active cases of the virus for the first time since February 29. And while cases have surfaced from time to time since December, the city has enjoyed its “normal COVID” summer, complete with concerts, music festivals, crowded bars and clubs and, once again, crowds at sporting events.
Although some of the best tennis players in the world have complained about the quarantine of hotels or the harsh measures they have faced since entering Australia, it is no wonder that Melbourneians in particular have not shown much sympathy. They did the job – invested hard – and are now reaping the benefits.
The overwhelming feeling is that those who do not want to adhere to the exhaustive quarantine measures of state hotels to enjoy a “normal” Melbourne are welcome to stay where they are. After all, there are thousands of trapped Australians begging governments to open more quarantine rooms for citizens trapped abroad.
The death rate in Australia is approximately 1 in 28,000 people. Less than 1,000 people died from the coronavirus. The US rate during the pandemic is about 1 in 870 people, with more than 460,000 deaths.
Yes, people are wearing masks, hand washing stations are on every corner and there is a limit of 30,000 people for crowds per day, but the Australian Open 2021 is not much different from last year. There are rows of ice cream and food trucks. The sun is shining. Melbourne Park seems normal, proof of the population’s adherence to restrictions.
The atmosphere too feel normal in a sense. Months ago, Melbourneians might not even have expected the tournament to go ahead. But what has resulted is a safe, welcoming and familiar experience.