Australia opens up after an 18-month travel ban. Australia is one of the countries with the strictest COVID-19 travel restrictions in the world. Here’s how the country will start opening up one part at a time. As of now, the opening is different for each state.
Australia’s travel restrictions: A summary
Australia‘s borders closed in March 2020 and only selected permanent residents and citizens were allowed back. They underwent a mandatory 14 days long quarantine in hotels and had to pay for it out of their own pockets.
The country’s travel bans stranded thousands of Australians across the world. Now, 18 months since then, the country has also decided to open its borders from November to allow permanent residents and citizens to leave the country for international travel.
Australia opens up: Can foreign travelers go to Australia?
According to reports, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the country will first focus on its citizens and permanent residents. They will be allowed to leave Australia as the new plan is approved. After all, so far, they were only able to leave the country due to humanitarian and major business or work reasons.
The source revealed that the government was planning to slowly welcome foreign travelers to Australia. However, the exact timeline for this is uncertain and in development. International travel and borders are opening up systematically. Hence, countries are taking a step with consideration to ensure no or least spread of the covid virus and its variants.
Additionally, the nation is expanding its list of the approved vaccine. This ensures that it includes the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and China’s Sinovac. Moreover, the vaccine update will allow users from other countries to travel to Australia without undergoing a 2 week-long quarantine.