Mass gatherings of 500 people or more have been advised to be banned in Australia. What will the Arnold Classic Australia do?
It’s been reported that the Australia government has been advised by the country’s chief medical officer to ban mass gatherings of more than 500 people. The goal is to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Shortly after this announcement, it was also reported that Australian minister Peter Dutton has tested positive for the coronavirus.
As things seem to escalate in Australia regarding the coronavirus – it appears more and more likely that social distancing and mass gatherings will be shut down. Which begs the question – what will happen to the Arnold Classic Australia which is just over one week away?
As of this moment, there has been no official statement or announcement from the Arnold Classic Australia. But as with the rest of the world, the coronavirus spread is happening at a rapid rate, and things are likely to only get worse in the coming days. Will the Arnold Classic Australia be postponed or cancelled?
Australia has recorded 126 infections and three deaths from the flu-like disease but authorities expect this to increase rapidly in the coming weeks with the arrival of the southern hemisphere winter. The virus has so far infected almost 135,000 and killed more than 4,900 worldwide.
Previously, the state of Ohio placed restrictions on the Arnold Sports Festival, forcing them to close down the expo that was expecting over 250,000 visitors. Ultimately, the actual Arnold Classic competitions went on as planned but with no spectators until Friday and Saturday night finals.
It should be noted Arnold Schwarzenegger himself was very upset at this decision, making multiple comments throughout the weekend on how he thought it was unfair for the expo to be cancelled while other sporting events in the area and in the country continued.
But things have changed very rapidly since those statements, with many professional sports leagues suspending their seasons until further notice.
So what will be the fate of the Arnold Classic Australia in the coming week? At this moment, it seems there is no official plan to change course – but it’s very likely that there will be some sort of change in the days or perhaps even hours to come. It would perhaps be wise for visitors of the event to keep a close watch on the event for updates.
This story is developing. Generation Iron will continue to update as more information becomes available.
