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Australia to relax two-year tourism ban.
Australia is to reopen its borders to all vaccinated tourists on February 21, after two years of barring visitors due to the pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Monday the end of one of the world’s strictest and longest-running pandemic travel restrictions.
“It’s almost two years since we took the decision to close the borders to Australia,” Morrison said during a media briefing.
“If you’re double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia.”
Anyone with medical proof that they cannot be vaccinated will be able to apply for an exemption to the visa requirement, Karen Andrews, the home affairs minister, said.
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Australia’s ports and airports shut in March 2020 in the hope of protecting the country against the fast-spreading Covid-19 virus.
Since then, Australians have been barred from leaving and only a handful of visitors have been granted exemptions to enter.
The rules have stranded Australian citizens overseas, split families and battered the country’s multi-billion-dollar tourism industry.
Like many countries, Australia had an Omicron-fuelled surge but the situation has improved significantly in recent weeks.
The nation recorded just over 23,000 cases on Monday from a peak of 150,000 about a month ago.
Despite the open border announcement, travel within Australia will still be restricted.
The state of Western Australia remains closed to most non-residents. It is currently easier to travel from Sydney to Dublin than from Sydney to Perth.
Mark McGowan, Premier of Western Australia, said that his region would only relax some stringent measures.
