Coronavirus: Australia to reopen border for vaccinated residents from November; Japan’s state of emergency ends
- ‘The time has come to give Australians their life back,’ PM Scott Morrison said after easing some of the toughest travel curbs imposed globally
- States with 80 per cent vaccination rate can welcome immunised overseas visitors, while drugs regulator recognised the Sinovac and Covishield jabs
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said the country would begin to reopen its borders next month, 18 months after citizens were banned from travelling overseas without permission.
Morrison said vaccinated Australians would be able to return home and travel overseas “within weeks” as 80 per cent vaccination targets are met.
On March 20 last year, the Australian government introduced some of the world’s toughest border restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For the last 560 days, countless international flights have been grounded, and overseas travel has slowed to a trickle.
Families have been split across continents, an estimated 30,000 nationals were stranded overseas and foreign residents were stuck in the country unable to see friends or relatives.
More than 100,000 requests to enter or leave the country were denied in the first five months of this year alone, according to Department of Home Affairs data.
“The time has come to give Australians their life back. We’re getting ready for that, and Australia will be ready for take-off, very soon,” Morrison said.
He also announced that inoculated residents would be able to home quarantine for seven days on their return, dodging the current mandatory and costly 14-day hotel quarantine.