After a year and a half of closure in an attempt to protect itself from the coronavirus outbreak, Australia will begin to reopen its borders next month. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that vaccinated Australians will be able to return home and travel abroad, once vaccination targets of 80% are met. “The time has come to give back their lives to the Australians. We are preparing for it, and Australia will be ready to take off, very soon, ”he said.
He added that upon returning from abroad, vaccinated residents will have to observe a seven-day quarantine at their homes, avoiding the mandatory and expensive 14-day hotel quarantine currently imposed.
Separated families
On March 20, 2020, Australia introduced some of the world’s toughest border restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In the past 560 days, countless international flights have been grounded, overseas travel has been kept to a minimum.
Families have been separated on several continents, an estimated 30,000 nationals have been stranded abroad while foreign residents have not been able to return to their countries to see family or friends. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, more than 100,000 requests to enter or leave the territory have been refused in the first five months of this year alone.
Australian states will still remain closed
The most populous state, New South Wales, currently has 64% of people over the age of 16 fully vaccinated and hopes to reach 70-80% by October. However, most Australian states – notably Western Australia and Queensland – have not recorded any significant epidemic waves and intend to continue their “Covid-zero” strategy. For this reason, they intend to remain closed to the rest of the country.
Friday’s announcement could mean that within a month it will be easier for people in Sydney or Melbourne to travel to London or New York than to go to Perth or Brisbane. Australian airline Qantas welcomed the announcement, announcing a resumption of flights to London and Los Angeles on November 14.