Melbourne, February 12: The Victorian government has announced a five-day lockdown in the state commencing at 11:59 pm (local time) on Friday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak. The ongoing Australian Open in Melbourne will continue as planned but without spectators during the lockdown. However, sessions on Friday will continue as planned with "COVID Safe protocols" in place.

"We are notifying ticketholders, players and staff that there will be no fans onsite at the AO for five days, commencing from Saturday 13 February. Full refunds will be available for anyone who has tickets for these sessions and they will be advised on how to apply as soon as possible," Australian Open said in a statement.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday confirmed Melbourne would be locked down from midnight.

"AFLW or that event or any number of other large and small professional sports events, they will function essentially as a workplace," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Andrews as saying.

"But they will not function as an entertainment event, because there will be no crowds. And the workforce will be the minimum that is needed in order for that to be COVID-safe and safe in lots of other contexts," he added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)