Australia has announced that it will allow vaccinated citizens and their relatives to travel abroad from November.
The BBC reports that, in announcing the move, Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared: ‘It’s time to give Australians their lives back.’
He said at a media briefing that people would be eligible to travel when their state’s vaccination rate hit 80%.
According to the BBC, travel would not immediately be open to foreigners, but the government said it was working ‘towards welcoming tourists back to our shores’.
Since March 2020, Australia has had some of the world’s strictest border rules – even banning its own people from leaving the country. The policy has been praised for helping to suppress Covid, but it has also controversially separated families.
Meanwhile, Dubai’s coronavirus-delayed Expo 2020 has opened, with more than 190 countries showcasing their cultures and innovations inside architecturally striking pavilions on the 438-hectare site.
Organisers are hoping it will be the largest global gathering since the start of the pandemic. They are hoping to attract 25 million visitors over the next six months to boost tourism and investment in the emirate. The Dubai government has spent an estimated $7bn on the event.