Australia had in some of its biggest cities invoked one of the largest COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in the world. Finally, with the virus under control to a manageable extent, the Australian Government has announced that it would be easing pandemic restrictions and allowing its population to function with responsible social distancing and precautious norms.
The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, further announced that from 1st December onward, overseas inoculated students enrolled in Australian educational institutes, skilled workers employed in various capacities, and travelers on working vacation shall be permitted to arrive at Sydney and Melbourne Airports, without specific documentation of, ‘an exception to a travel ban’.
“The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back, it’s a major milestone about what Australians have been able to achieve and enable us to do,” said the Australian PM on Monday.
Giving an expected inflow of people, the government expects about 200,000 people to land in the above categories, in January 2022 itself. Vaccinated citizens of Japan and South Korea shall also be allowed into the country’s borders, sans quarantine rituals, along with people on humanitarian visas.
The Morrison administration has yet not taken a call on allowing tourists for leisure purposes. “I think Australians are very keen to see us take this step-by-step approach,” stated about not opening everything at once. “They’ve been through a lot and they’ve sacrificed a lot to ensure that we can open safely so we can stay safely open,” Morrison added.
For the vaccinated traveler’s arrival without quarantining is possible in New South Wales and Victoria too, which host maximum populations. However, states, where the rate of vaccination is low, shall impose pandemic-related checks and restrictions on their borders.
Australia had an underwhelming approach with the vaccination process in the beginning, with less population being motivated to take the vaccinations. With time it gathered the right pace, and now over 85% of the population over 16 years of age is fully vaccinated.
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The first flights that opened up were between Australia and Singapore, after long pandemic restrictions dominating all parts of the country. The first steps taken were, allowing Australian citizens and Permanent Residents to return to the country on November 1st, 2021.
This step has been much awaited as revenue was being lost on a large scale, as students were not going to universities, let alone allowing foreign students to come to the country and attend colleges.
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