Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is reportedly holding discussions with several low-risk Asian countries in order to expand the country’s travel bubble with no quarantine.
The Land Down Under has taken the first steps in reopening its borders by allowing travellers from New Zealand to travel to several states without quarantine. However, Kiwis are not so welcoming to Aussies as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants Australia to have no community transmission like NZ.
The Australian Government was looking to expand that travel bubble beyond New Zealand to include other countries which have effectively controlled COVID-19 such as Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan.
“The situation in Europe and the United States is awful, and obviously that presents great risks for people coming in from those parts of the world to Australia,” he said.
“But out of many parts of Asia, particularly in North Asia, places like Taiwan and I would also say [some] provinces of China, Singapore . . . [we are] looking at what alternative arrangements could be had to channel visitors through appropriate quarantine arrangements for low-risk countries.”
However, sources claimed that negotiations are still exploratory and negotiations may take months.
Currently, overseas travel from Australia is prohibited. Outbound travel is not allowed unless you get an exemption from the Department of Home Affairs.
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