- After successfully eradicating local transmission of COVID-19, Australia’s Prime Minister has announced almost all domestic travel restrictions will ease before Christmas
- The only exception is WA, which is still asking NSW and Victoria residents to undertake a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in the state
- The announcement by Scott Morrison comes after a national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders to discuss COVID-19 vaccines and travel
- At this stage, the Federal Government advises international travel won’t resume until all Australians are vaccinated against the virus
- International students will also be delayed from arriving in Australia as the Government prioritises repatriating Australian citizens
Most Australians will be able to visit friends and family living interstate this Christmas after the country successfully eradicated local transmission of COVID-19.
Only 58 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Australia in the last week and only two of those cases have been locally acquired and not in the last day. In comparison, the U.S. recorded 145,000 COVID-19 cases on Thursday alone.
Interstate reopening
The reopening announcement follows Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s meeting with State and Territory leaders today to finalise dropping Australia’s interstate borders and removing mandatory quarantine rules.
At this stage, WA will be the only exception to the new rules, with the state choosing to remain closed to most Victorian and NSW residents who aren’t willing to spend 14-days in quarantine at their own expense.
WA’s hard border will lift to some areas on Saturday, November 14, while all other state and territories will have opened their borders and removed mandatory quarantine for interstate travel by the end of December.
The PM said in order to stay safe going forward, each state and territory has agreed to share contact tracing information to stop any local spread of COVID-19.
“The plan importantly embeds public health metrics in ensuring that when Australia opens safely that it remains open safely, and that is incredibly important,” Scott Morrison said.
International reopening
Along with the interstate border reopening, the Morrison Government has provided an update on when international travel may resume in and out of Australia.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said once the majority of the country is vaccinated against COVID-19, which could occur by the end of 2021, overseas travel will be able to return to normal.
“What vaccination does, is it opens up the possibility of travel for Australians, so they can travel safely, they can return safely. It reduces the need for hotel quarantining, if somebody has been vaccinated,” the Minister explained.
“We can add progressive layers of safety. We have opened a travel bubble with New Zealand. We are looking at opening travel bubbles with other low risk countries,” he added.
“It will be a progressive opening through the course of 2021. In an ideal world, if the vaccination strategy is completed, as we anticipate, then by the end of 2021, we will be very close to widespread international travel,” Minister Hunt said.
Until then, the Federal Government will continue to restrict the arrival of international planes – with returning Australian citizens the priority, not international students.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said around 400,000 Aussies have returned home since March and there are over 30,000 still interested in flying back.
“There is a queue, and Australians are at the front of the queue,” The PM explained when asked about international students arriving in Australia.
“Our priorities must be to look after Australian citizens and residents first,” he added.