French Open braced for crowd limit of 1,000 due to COVID-19
Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros – Paris, France – 23/05/16. Roland Gorros logo. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
The French Open at Roland Garros was braced Wednesday to cut its crowd limit once again to as low as 1,000 fans a day after the government announced new limits in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
French tennis chiefs had already reduced the number of fans allowed in for the season’s concluding Grand Slam event, which starts Sunday in Paris, to 5,000 ten days ago, down from 11,500.
Article continues after this advertisementHowever, on Wednesday, health minister Olivier Veran demanded new limits at sports grounds in 11 ‘red zones’ in the country, one of which includes the French capital.
“To date, we have no confirmation on the conditions of organization of the tournament,” said a French Tennis Federation spokesman.
This new ceiling of 5,000 will apply “from Saturday after consultation between the prefects and local elected officials”, said Veran.
Article continues after this advertisementThe health minister also announced “the closure of sports halls and gymnasiums” because “they are confined spaces ….and which are unfortunately places of significant contamination”.
These new measures, which will last for a period of two weeks, also concern the areas of Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Lille, Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble and Montpellier.
For more news about the novel coronavirus click here.
What you need to know about Coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare frontliners and is still accepting cash donations to be deposited at Banco de Oro (BDO) current account #007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link.
