Australia is planning to reopen its international travel with nations including Japan, South Korea and Singapore as coronavirus eases, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
After shutting its borders in March and a seven-months long lockdown was put to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Australia is looking to revive tourism to revive its economy and help the country come out of its first recession in nearly three decades. Australia has managed to contain the outbreak of the virus better than other nations, but it is facing a second wave in the state of Victoria. While Melbourne remains under a strict lockdown, infection cases have seen a fall there.
Morrison said he has discussed reopening travel in the past week with countries like Japan, Korea and some South Pacific nations and spoke over building an agreement to allow New Zealanders to visit parts of the country without having to undergo quarantine.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne also had talks in Singapore this week on resuming travel.
As a part of the discussion, tourists from New Zealand will be permitted to visit New South Wales state, including Sydney, and the Northern Territory from October 16. This would be the first major step by the Australian government to reopen international borders that were closed in March.
“There are several countries that have performed well on the health front, and Australia and those countries are one of a handful of countries that have had the same level of success,” Morrison said at a televised media conference.
“But we have to go cautiously on this - very, very cautiously. COVID-19 hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still there. And it is no less aggressive today than it was six months ago.”
Australia on Sunday reported 19 new COVID cases, twelve of them are from Victoria, with one death. The total COVID-19 death toll in the country now stands at 898. There has been a resurgence of community transmission after security failures at quarantine hotels for returning overseas travellers. New Zealanders will be allowed to travel to some Australian states from Friday without quarantining, including to New South Wales, Canberra and the Northern Territory.
The state government in Victoria have passed orders to ease the lockdown, allowing all shops in Melbourne to reopen, resuming outdoor dining and free movement from Oct. 19 if the two-week average of new cases fell below 5.
State premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday it was nearly impossible to reach that target by next week, but a few restrictions will be lifted.
“They will not be as big steps as we hoped but they will be significant, and they will allow us to move more freely,” Andrews said.