Australia reopens its borders to vaccinated travelers

Australia reopened its borders to foreign travelers vaccinated against Covid-19 on Monday after nearly two years of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Reuters reports that.

More than 50 international flights will land in the country on Monday, including 27 in Sydney. They brought in tourists and hundreds of people who were reunited with their relatives for the first time in two years. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke in Tasmania of “a very exciting day, which I have been looking forward to for a long time”.

Australia’s tourism sector, which is worth more than A$60 billion (€38 billion) a year and employs about 5 percent of the country’s workforce, is hoping to recover from the coronavirus lockdowns. A wave of the Omikron variant of the coronavirus appears to have passed its peak in Australia.

Quarantine requirements maintained by Australian states and territories will remain in effect for the time being.