Canberra, Oct 1 (BUS): Australia has outlined plans to lift the pandemic ban on its vaccinated citizens traveling abroad from November. But no date has yet been set for the reception of international tourists, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that the travel restrictions that have confined most Australians and permanent residents to their homes for the past 18 months will be lifted when 80% of the population aged 16 or over is vaccinated.
Australia imposed some of the toughest travel restrictions of any democracy in the world on people entering and leaving the island nation on March 20 last year.
Most Australians have had to demand rare waivers from the travel ban to leave the country. There are a few exceptions to the ban including government employees and essential workers. Tourism has never been accepted as a reason to cross borders.
Hundreds of thousands have failed to reach their relatives’ death pills, missed funerals or weddings, and are yet to be presented to grandchildren due to restrictions aimed at keeping COVID-19 out of Australia.
New South Wales is likely to become the first state too The 80% vaccination standard has been reached and Sydney Airport is the first airport to open for international travel, Morrison said.
“We saved lives. We saved livelihoods, but we must work together to ensure Australians can reclaim the lives they once led in this country,” Morrison said.
Sydney-based Qantas Airways has announced the resumption of international flights from November 14 to London and Los Angeles.
Morrison gave no idea when other nationalities would be welcome to visit Australia.
“We will work towards full travel without quarantine for some countries, such as New Zealand, when it is safe to do so,” he said.
Australia has the closest relationship with New Zealand, as its citizens are considered permanent residents of Australia. Neighbors allowed non-quarantine travel across the Tasman Sea before a variable delta outbreak began in Sydney in June.
The Australian Tourism Export Council, which represents a sector that generated A$45 billion ($33 billion) a year from international tourists before the pandemic, said ending the travel ban had cleared the way for visitors from around the world to return by March.
“It represents a shift in thinking within both government and community sentiment to re-engage with the world,” Peter Shelley, the council’s managing director, said in a statement.
Capping the number of Australian citizens and permanent residents allowed to return each week has left 45,000 people stranded abroad. It aims to reduce the pressure on the hotel’s quarantine, which has made the more contagious delta variant more difficult to manage.
The cap only applies to unvaccinated people under the new system. Australians who have been fully vaccinated will be able to self-quarantine at home for only one week, instead of the current two weeks in a hotel.
Australia on Friday added Chinese-made Sinovac shots and India-made AstraZeneca known as Covishield to its list of vaccines that Australians can take and recognize as complete vaccines.
Travel restrictions will not be lifted for Australians who have chosen not to be vaccinated. People who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons or children who are too young to get the vaccine have the same benefits as those who are vaccinated.
AOQ