Quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia is to resume from today, Australia’s tourism minister said yesterday, as the country readies itself for a partial reopening of its international borders for the first time since March last year.
Vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents living in New South Wales, Victoria and the capital, Canberra, are to be free to fly internationally from today without the need of an exemption or to quarantine upon return.
However, for now, only tourists from neighboring New Zealand would be allowed into Australia, provided they are vaccinated.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The resumption of quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia is another important marker on our road to recovery,” Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said in a statement.
Australia closed its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing only a limited number of citizens and permanent residents to return from abroad, subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel at their own expense.
More than 80 percent of people 16 and older in New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra are fully vaccinated — a condition for the resumption of international travel — meaning that about 14 million Australians would be free to leave and re-enter the country if they are fully vaccinated.
However, while airlines and tourism agencies have reported “massive demand” for services, only 23 percent of Australians feel confident about making travel plans in the next year, a survey by consumer advocacy group Choice showed last week.
There were more than 1,200 new COVID-19 cases recorded across Australia yesterday, with 1,036 in Victoria and 177 infections in New South Wales. There were 13 related deaths.
While an outbreak of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 kept Sydney and Melbourne in lockdowns for months until recently, Australia’s COVID-19 cases remain far lower than many comparable countries, with just more than 170,500 infections and 1,735 deaths.
Nearly 77 percent of all Australians have been fully vaccinated and more than 88 percent have received their first dose.
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