Coronavirus Update: F1 Australian GP

Coronavirus Update: F1 Australian GP, The latest on Australian GP says that three F1 team members have brought cause for concern to the race organizers.


F1 Australian GP is just around the corner now with the coronavirus epidemic not ceasing as the time goes by.
The latest on Australian GP says that three F1 team members have brought cause for concern to the race organizers. They showed fever symptoms at the track. As a result, they were taken to the circuit’s isolation unit. One of these members belonged to McLaren and the other two belonged to Haas.
Their results. if returned positive could have a negative outcome for the race. For now, they are under self-isolation. The concern is derived from the fact that they might have been carrying the coronavirus while they socialized with the rest of the people in the paddock.
The Risk is Huge
The risk of carrying out the event is huge. Because people are going to travel, the transmission of the disease from one community to another is likely to happen. This has the potential to cause a lot of problems for the country hosting the event. People could die as a result of ignorance. A death that could have been prevented might turn out to be an unnecessary tragedy. All because the race was too important.
Even though the country has held back on letting foreigners enter the country, currently, 112 cases of the coronavirus are present in Australia. Italian people are the ones suffering the most right now. Their arrival in the country to host the first F1 GP has been the hardest. In Sydney, ‘STOP F1’ was put in the sky for everyone to advise an obvious caution. The F1 event is expected to gather a lot of people which is exactly what needs to be avoided under present circumstances.
Teams from Italy
The teams arriving from Italy had to go through enough trouble to enter the country. Ferrari and AlphaTauri, the leading F1 teams from Italy, were among those who entered the country as risk-carriers. Pirelli, the F1’s tyre supplier, is also based in Italy. The reason behind the risk-carrying is that the three enterprises have their bases in Italy. Italy, being one of the most affected victims of coronavirus, carries a great chance of transmitting the disease from their country to the country they enter which in this case is Australia.
Another point to be worried about is that the people entering the F1 event might not show any signs of carrying the virus initially. Although, the situation could take a rather ugly turn once the virus becomes potent enough to begin its work later on. If the transmission is not contained thoroughly, whole communities could be forced to take the damage in Australia. Considering that and many other factors, the organizers could be playing with fire.
Impact of Coronavirus so far
Following the coronavirus outbreak, two schools in Melbourne have stopped working. Furthermore, three new cases suffering from the virus have been reported in the state of Victoria on Wednesday.
One of the plausible explanations for the governing bodies allowing the Formula 1 GP to take place could be down to cost-benefit analysis which resulted in favor of the F1 race getting the go-ahead.
Unlike the Australian GP, the Chinese Grand Prix was postponed much earlier. Another F1 race to take extra precautionary measures was the Bahrain Grand Prix. They have already decided to hold the race behind closed doors. With so many people traveling from around the world to attend the race in Australia, the likelihood of the spread of the coronavirus increases exponentially.
Preventive Measures
It is good to know the Australian health organizations are taking preventive steps to ensure the safety of everyone attending the event. But there is simply no other more convenient way to avoid this epidemic than to avoid large public gatherings.
All the autograph sessions and the selfies sessions have been taken out of the F1 schedule. This has reduced the risk for the drivers and the fans. But that is still not going to be enough to defeat the coronavirus.
The organizers are closely monitoring the whole situation. That also means the race cannot be guaranteed to take place. In case the virus catches a team member, the problems could double for the F1. They will have to assess alternatives aggressively to keep the troubles contained. Depending on circumstances, mass gatherings could be put to permanent rest throughout the F1 Grand Prix. Also, FIA has made a new crisis cell which they intend to use every two days to assess the situation.
All the F1 fun aside, it does not bode well for the overall experience of the F1 event. But health comes first. So, any compromises being made in hopes of keeping people safe should be unquestionably accepted by the organizers.