Australia – Coronavirus: Countdown to border opening after 18 months

THE Australia will start opening its borders from next month, said today, Friday (1/10) the country’s prime minister Scott Morrison, 18 months after Australians were banned from traveling abroad.

According to Morrison, Australians and locals have been vaccinated against coronavirus will be able to travel outside Australia “In the coming weeks”, just 80% of the population has been immunized.

“The time has come to give Australians back their lives. We saved lives. We have saved fortunes, but we must work together to ensure that Australians can return to the lives they once had. “We are preparing for this and Australia will be ready to take off very soon,” Morrison said during a press conference, as reported by APE-MPE.

The Australian Prime Minister explained that those returning from abroad to Australia should stay quarantined for seven days at home and not as it is now 14 days in a hotel.

Australia closed its borders on March 20, 2020, adopting some one of the strictest restrictions in the world aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

During the previous 560 days most international flights were canceled and trips abroad were reduced to a minimum. Only a limited number of people have been allowed to travel abroad for serious business or humanitarian reasons.

According to the Interior Ministry, more than 100,000 applications to enter or leave the country have been rejected in the first five months of 2021 alone.

Authorities have allowed Australian citizens and permanent residents to return to the country, but under strict quotas, while those returning had to be quarantined at a hotel for 14 days to cover the cost.

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