For the past couple of years, Australia has been a fortress. The country has not even allowed its own citizens to come back into the country, until recently. Late last year, as Australia shifted from a zero-covid strategy, they lifted some of the curbs put on their residents, including travel liberties that were opened up for their own citizens. However, just like India, each state had their own controls for citizens. For instance, in some states, you could just return with a test, and in others, you had to undergo a full quarantine.
Australia will open to the world in February 2022
Today, Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has announced that the country will be reopening its borders in two weeks time. However, the reopening will be only for visitors who are fully vaccinated.
Australia closed down its borders in 2020, with the intent of curbing the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Not only were visitors not allowed, but the citizens of the country who were stuck abroad were not allowed back into the country for a very long time. The borders have been progressively opening since November, but some groups were yet to be allowed exemption-free travel. Now, as of February 21, 2022, this will be changed, to allow visitors in the country as well.
As per the announcements made by Scott Morisson today, visitors will need to be fully vaccinated (but no booster requirements have been announced). You need to be tested before departure, so you need to have a negative RT-PCR test within 72 hours of departure or a negative Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of departure. There will be no testing or quarantine on arrival. The state of Western Australia will however be, off-limits.
Bottomline
After two years, Australia will finally reopen its international borders to visitors as of February 21, 2022. Visitors will need a pre-departure test (PCR or rapid antigen), and Western Australia remains closed. Beyond that, the country is open to fully-vaccinated visitors.
What do you think of Australia’s reopening for reopening?
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