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Sydney to end COVID-19 quarantine for international travellers
Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, allowing entry almost exclusively to only citizens and permanent residents who are required to undergo a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense.
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A woman jogs around the Opera House on October 11, 2021, as Sydney ended their lockdown against the Covid-19 coronavirus after 106 days. (AFP/Saeed Khan)
S
ydney will end its COVID-19 quarantine for fully vaccinated international travellers from Nov. 1, New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Friday, foreshadowing the full return of overseas travel after more than 19 months.
Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, allowing entry almost exclusively to only citizens and permanent residents who are required to undergo a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense.
"We want people back, we are leading the nation out of the pandemic ... we are opening Sydney and New South Wales to the world," Perrottet told reporters in Sydney, the state capital.
The federal government's reopening plans unveiled in July proposed abolishing caps on returning vaccinated Australians and a gradual reopening of international travel with safe countries once full vaccination rates reach 80 percent.
Australia's borders have been closed for the last 19 months to prevent the spread of Covid-19, stranding tens of thousands of Australians overseas and leading critics to dub the country a "hermit state".
Currently, anyone who enters Australia has to qualify for an exemption to travel and fork out many thousands of dollars to be locked in a hotel room for 14 days.
The office of Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not immediately available to comment on the New South Wales plan.
