Australia to welcome vaccinated foreign students, workers

Australia has announced that from December 1, students, skilled workers and travellers on working vacations will be allowed to land at Sydney and Melbourne airports without needing to seek exemptions from a travel ban. The Australian government expects 200,000 vaccinated foreign students and skilled workers will soon return without quarantining when the country further relaxes pandemic restrictions. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday the government expects 200,000 arrivals in the two categories by January.

He also said, "The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs and supporting our important education sector." "I think Australians are very keen to see us take this step-by-step approach," Scott Morrison said."They've been through a lot and they've sacrificed a lot to ensure that we can open safely so we can stay safely open," he added. Vaccinated citizens of Japan and South Korea will also be allowed in Australia without quarantine. But the government has yet to decide when general tourists will be allowed to return. While vaccinated travellers will be able to arrive without quarantining in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia's most populous states, parts of the country with lower vaccination rates still impose pandemic restrictions at state lines. Australia first reopened its border to quarantine-free travellers on November 1 after 20 months of some of the most draconian pandemic restrictions adopted by any democratic country. Arrivals were first restricted to Australian citizens and permanent residents.