Australians are allowed to return to the country without mandatory quarantine

For the first time in 20 months, Australian citizens will be allowed to travel in and out of the country again on Monday without mandatory quarantine. Sydney Airport, which is usually the busiest in the country, reunited relatives and friends who had not seen each other for nearly two years. Before Monday, Australians were only allowed to leave the country with a special exemption from the government. Australian citizens who were abroad had to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks if they wanted to return.

He told the Australian newspaper that such a quarantine was “not an option” for pilot Jaspar Singh Sydney Morning Herald. He works in Singapore and had not seen his wife and three children for more than a year and a half before Monday. If he wanted to visit them, he would have to quarantine for two weeks in Australia, and two weeks upon his return to Singapore. With his vacation days limited, he couldn’t stand it. “I’ve flown everyone around the world except myself,” says the pilot.

Sydney Airport was the first airport to reopen on Monday as New South Wales became the first state to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population over the age of 16. Melbourne and Canberra airports also opened later in the day, as states in which those cities are located reached their threshold Vaccination. Four Australian states, including New South Wales, are calling on residents to travel only within state borders despite the easing. Tourists are expected to be allowed to return to the country later this year.