Published 17:29 IST, March 8th 2020
Bahrain Grand Prix to be held without any spectators amid Coronavirus scare
The organizers, in consultation with Formula One, announced the development on Sunday afternoon. The race is scheduled to take place on March 22.
Bahrain Grand Prix will be held without any spectators in order to contain the spread of coronavirus. The organizers, in consultation with Formula One, announced the development on Sunday afternoon. The race is scheduled to take place on March 22.
No fans
"As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and racegoers is a tremendous responsibility. Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time. But to ensure that neither the sport nor its global supporter base, is unduly impacted, the race weekend itself will still go ahead as a televised event."
The statement added, "Bahrain’s own early actions to prevent, identify and isolate cases of individuals with Covid-19 has been extremely successful to date. The approach has involved rapid, proactive measures, identifying those affected by the virus, of which the overwhelming majority of cases relate to those travelling into the country by air. Aggressive social distancing measures have further increased the effectiveness of preventing the virus’ spread, something that would clearly be near impossible to maintain were the race to have proceeded as originally planned."
Globally, many sporting events have been affected due to the virus, with some events have closed doors for the public, others have been postponed or even cancelled.
A month ago, F1 announced that the Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed due to the virus. The epicentre of coronavirus is China. A statement read, "As a result of continued health concerns and with the World Health Organisation declaring the coronavirus as a global health emergency, the FIA and Formula 1 have taken these measures in order to ensure the health and safety of the travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains of primary concern."
Globally, more than 3,600 people have died, with the epicentre being in China. The virus has infected more than 1,07,000 people globally and has now spread to North America South America, Europe, New Zealand, and as many as 80 other countries.
Updated 17:29 IST, March 8th 2020