Australia is now fully open to vaccinated travelers. On Thursday, Western Australia became the last state to lift border restrictions. The state, which covers one third of the nation’s land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travelers on April 5, 2020, to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday, four months after Sydney began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than a week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas. Perth’s airport was the scene of emotional reunions as the first of a scheduled 22 domestic flights and five international flights began arriving on Thursday. More than 30,000 people are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Western Australia had successfully stopped the local spread of the coronavirus throughout the pandemic by contract tracing and isolating carriers until the highly contagious omicron variant arrived this year. The state, with a population of almost 2.7 million now reports more than 1,000 new infections every day, though it has recorded only 11 deaths from COVID since the pandemic began. Visitors, whether from overseas or from other Australian states, still need to be triple-vaccinated and complete a travel entry pass, the Guardian reports. Premier Mark McGowan said the 696-day border closure had worked—but he said he is aware of the hardships it has caused, especially since his parents live in another state.
"WA became the island within an island," McGowan said, per 9News. "And it worked. By only allowing travel with jurisdictions that were free from COVID-19, we could remain COVID-free ourselves." He said that with cases rising and tight restrictions in place, the state is facing a tough few weeks, but "better times lie ahead. The state is launching a "Wander Out Yonder" ad campaign to attract visitors from eastern Australian states. (More Western Australia stories.)
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