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Thousands of fans to attend Russian GP, despite increase in COVID infections

Thousands of fans to attend Russian GP, despite increase in COVID infections

24-09-2020 09:00 Last update: 09:54

GPblog.com

The Russian Grand Prix will let in as many as 30,000 people to the circuit in Sochi this weekend. After the successful experiment with a few thousand fans in Mugello, Russia is now trying to up the numbers.

The coronavirus held back the start of the Formula 1 season for a long time, but nine races have already taken place. During the last race in Mugello, a few fans were admitted. Italy was hit first and hardest in Europe but was able to admit fans to the circuit again.

Russia allows 30,000 people

However, the situation in Russia is even worse. While in Italy, according to Worldometers.info, a total of 302,537 coronavirus infections have been recorded, in Russia the figure is much higher with 1,128,836 people. There were 35,758 deaths from the virus in Italy, but this is less in Russia with 19,948 deaths.

This is perhaps the reason why 30,000 people spread over the weekend are allowed to watch the Russian Grand Prix. According to the Daily Mail, most of these spectators come on Sunday, which means that the crowds are not really spread out.

However, with 6,595 new cases in the last day, the number of people contracting the coronavirus does not seem to be decreasing.