Australian state plans to ease COVID-19 border restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers
Oct 26, 2021
Canberra [Australia], October 26 (ANI/Xinhua): The state government of South Australia (SA) has revealed its pathway out of the coronavirus pandemic as the country continues to battle the third wave of COVID-19 infections.
Premier Steven Marshall on Tuesday announced that SA's border will reopen to fully vaccinated domestic travellers on November 23, when 80 per cent of South Australians aged 16 and over expected to be fully vaccinated.
At the same time, the mandatory quarantine period for the vaccinated international arrivals to SA will be halved from 14 days to seven and the cap on home gatherings will be increased from 20 to 30.
The vast majority of remaining restrictions will be scrapped when 90 per cent of South Australians aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which Marshall said should be before Christmas on December 25.
When SA hits that milestone quarantine for fully vaccinated international arrivals will be scrapped.
"South Australians have worked extraordinarily hard over the last 19 months. They've stood shoulder to shoulder together," Marshall said.
"We need as many people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, so we can enjoy as normal a Christmas as possible during this pandemic."
The announcement came as Australia reported more than 1,800 new locally acquired COVID-19 infections and five deaths on Tuesday.
The majority of new cases were in Victoria, the country's second-most populous state with Melbourne as the capital city, where 1,510 cases and four deaths were reported.
So far about 87.1 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over had received one COVID vaccine dose and 74.1 per cent were fully vaccinated, according to the latest data released by the Department of Health. (ANI/Xinhua)
