Australia to welcome tourists after nearly two years of sealing borders
February 21, 2022, 8:26 am

Australia to welcome tourists after nearly two years of sealing borders

Australia -Melbourne city-Flinders street station/Pixabay

The Asharq Al-Awsat reported, Australia will welcome international tourists on Monday after nearly two years of sealing its borders, relying on high COVID-19 vaccination rates to live with the pandemic as infections decline.

"The wait is over," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a Sunday briefing at the Melbourne International Airport.

Australia's opening to tourists is the clearest example yet of the government's shift from a strict zero-COVID approach to living with the virus and vaccinating the public to minimize deaths and severe illness.

According to the report, most of the country's 2.7 million coronavirus infections have occurred since the Omicron variant emerged in late November. But with one of the world's highest vaccination rates - more than 94% of people aged 16 and over are double-dosed - there have been just under 5,000 deaths, a fraction of the rates seen in many other developed countries.

On Sunday, the country recorded more than 16,600 coronavirus cases, before all areas had reported, and at least 33 deaths, mainly in the three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

People enjoying time in Queensland's Australia (File photo: Pixabay)

Whether travelers will flock back to the island continent, dubbed "fortress Australia" for its strict border controls, remains to be seen. The government hopes to boost a pre-pandemic growth sector - real tourism gross domestic product expanded 3.4% in 2018-2019, compared with overall GDP growth of 1.9%.

Australia to reopen borders to vaccinated travelers, ending two years of travel ban

Australia has been gradually reopening since November, first allowing Australians to travel in and out, then admitting international students and some workers. From Monday, leisure travelers and more business travelers may enter.

Steve Hughes, head of HSBC's commercial banking in Australia, said: "The reopening reinforces Australia's credentials as an open economy and will allow companies with international interests to more easily conduct business."

"We expect that mid-sized firms which have reached the limits of their domestic growth will have renewed confidence to consider offshore expansion."

Australia reports record high of Covid deaths, hospitals under stress

It should be noted that fully vaccinated tourists will not need to quarantine, but those not double-dosed will require a travel exemption to enter the country and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements.

Source: aawsat

Warplane crashes in Iran's Tabriz, killing three Erdogan’s charmingly pragmatic offensive

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.