Australian Open to go without fans as 'new kind of enemy' forces Victoria to lock down

The Australian state of Victoria will lock down for five days in a bid to curb the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant, meaning the Australian Open will go without fans during what is usually its busiest few days.

Authorities have identified 13 new cases tied to an employee of a quarantine hotel in Melbourne, who tested positive for the so-called United Kingdom coronavirus variant on Monday. Five of those cases were identified in the previous 24 hours, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said at a news conference Friday. Andrews that "this hyper-infectious variant is moving at hyper-speed," and to stop it the government needed to enact a short, strict lockdown so people do not unwittingly infect others before they realize they have contracted the virus themselves.