Australia’s reopening pushed back and quarantine update for New South Wales and Victoria
Border Push Back
In a late-night announcement, the Australian Government has pushed back the reopening of the international border from 1 December to 15 December in response to the possible threat posed by the Covid-19 variant Omicron.
The decision will impact more than 200,000 non-Australian travellers who were expected to be returning to Australia in the coming weeks.
Travel Bubble Push Back
The travel bubble that was established for duly vaccinated citizen residents of Singapore and Japan, to commence from 1 December, has also been pushed back to 15 December.
Flights From Nine African Countries Suspended
The above steps are in addition to the Government’s decision to cease flights from nine southern African countries and the reintroduction of quarantine requirements from anyone entering Australia from the region.
Given the fluid nature of the situation, we will provide more updates as and when they become available.
Quarantine Changes
All travellers seeking to enter Australia will need to comply with the quarantine requirements of their state of arrival. Both Victoria and New South Wales have recently updated their quarantine requirements.
Victoria
From 11.59 pm 27 November, all international travellers arriving into Victoria, who have visited the following extreme risk countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi, and Mozambique in the past 14 days are required to undertake 14 days’ hotel quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status.
All other international travellers arriving in Victoria who are fully vaccinated, aged below 12 and 2 months or have a valid medical exemption are required to quarantine for 72 hours upon arrival.
International travellers to Victoria should refer to the below for the most up to date information:
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/information-overseas-travellers
New South Wales
All fully vaccinated travellers arriving in NSW who have been in any overseas country must get a COVID-19 PCR (nose and throat) test and self-isolate at their place of residence for at least 72 hours.
All travellers arriving in NSW who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Malawi, and Seychelles in the 14-day period before their arrival will be required to enter hotel quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status.
Anyone who has already arrived in NSW and has been in these countries within the past 14 days must immediately get a COVID-19 PCR (nose and throat swab) test and self-isolate for 14 days. They must immediately contact NSW Health on 1800 943 553. All household contacts of these travellers should also get tested, self-isolate and follow public health advice.
All unvaccinated travellers from any overseas country will continue to enter hotel quarantine.
International travellers to New South Wales should refer to the below for the most up to date information: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/infectious/covid-19/pages/default.aspx
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