It seems an alternative reality but Australia has shown that sport is possible in packed stadiums, with fans without masks and great athletes on the field.
This weekend an exhibition tennis tournament was played in Adelaide with more than 4,000 people in the stands, thanks to strict measures by the Australian government, which said the city has a zero contagion rate for covid-19.
Figures like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal they didn’t think it meant playing full places again, something they had missed for a year.
“It was worth it because you made it especially for us. I didn’t play in front of a crowd for 12 months and this is very special “, said Nole.
According to the statements of Australian Minister of Health, Greg HuntLast Friday, the country did not have a contagion in any of the states in the last 12 days.
For this reason, he congratulated the citizens for complying with the rules for reversing the number of infected people, which reached its highest level in August 2020.
“This is a proof of the activity of our medical professionals, of our public health teams., from Australians everywhere, because of the way they met the distance requirements, the way they protected each other, the way they say, “I came to be tested,” Hunt said.
“A WIDE PERSPECTIVE IS NECESSARY”
For the Adelaide tournament, the tennis players had to arrive a few weeks in advance to make an isolation quarantine, as that event will serve as a preamble. at the Australian Open, which begins next Monday.
During that time, players set aside time to train individually to maintain social distance. These measures were even more stringent, as on 16 January it was reported that a plane carrying 47 tennis players had landed in Australia with people who tested positive..
But it was worth seeing a full stadium again, with fear-free fans, because the minimum infection rate allows it. This is even when some tennis players have come to complain that they have to stay at the hotel all day, during quarantine..
About, Rafael Nadal told CNN that tennis players do not have a “broader perspective” to appreciate the Australian measurements.
AUSTRALIA, THE EXTREME OPPOSITE OF THE CRISIS
Until the night of January 31 Australia recorded 909 deaths during the pandemic, in addition to the fact that in the whole country currently have only 59 active cases and a total number of 28,818, which represents only 0.1 percent of its population.
These figures represent the extreme opposite of the pandemic, which in the United States, the country most affected by coronavirus, accumulates over 442 thousand deaths and 26 million cases, the latter, which is equivalent to 8% of its population.
In Mexico, Mazatlán was the case for “success” because he had three games with fans since last semester, although with a capacity of half a stadium. The percentage of the population that in our country suffered from covid-19 is 1.4 percent, although with a very different testing policy from the United States or Australia, with far fewer people subject to them.
Stadiums with a public were also seen in Japan, although in different circumstances, last year allowed 80 percent participation, although as an experiment thinking about the Olympics and fans forced to wear masks and not shout, very different from what happened to enthusiastic Adelaide fans.