Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan has stated that the country might keep its borders shut to travellers until late 2022. He expressed that the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the Indian subcontinent hints that Australia has been right in its decision to blanket ban visitors. He also expressed that such a ban is critical to keep Australia COVID-free.
Reportedly, there is no surety as to when Australians borders would reopen. He told Sky News that “the best guess would be in the middle to the second half of next year”. The nation entered into an air travel bubble agreement with New Zealand previously, which has been paused for cities that are again seeing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Mr Dan also expressed that, “The hope would be that we might be able to see a few more bubbles set up and we’d be able to see more travel undertaken, but we’re in a pandemic… It’s going to very much depend on how we are able to deal with the global pandemic.”
As per the figures, Australia used to see close to 1 million short-terms visitors every month before COVID-19 hit the world. The number has come down to just around 7000 now. The nation has put into place strict rules and regulations for now, and visitors are currently required to undergo 14 days quarantine.
