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MELBOURNE: Australia is in talks with Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the South Pacific nations about reopening travel as coronavirus infections decline, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday (October 11).
Australia closed its borders in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus and is seeking to revive tourism to help lift the country out of its first recession in nearly three decades.
READ: COVID-19: Singapore to lift border restrictions for some visitors from Australia, Vietnam
While Australia has managed to contain the outbreak better than others, it faces a second wave in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne remains under a strict lockdown. But infections have decreased since early August.
Morrison said he had spoken with his counterparts in Japan, South Korea and some Pacific nations, while Foreign Minister Marise Payne had held talks in Singapore this week about resuming travel.
“There are a number of countries that have done well on the health front, and Australia and those countries are one of the few countries that have had the same level of success,” Morrison told a televised news conference.
“But we have to be cautious, very, very cautious. COVID-19 has not gone anywhere. It is still there. And it is no less aggressive today than it was six months ago.”
The country reported 19 new cases on Sunday, 12 of them in Victoria. It reported one death, bringing the total death toll from COVID-19 to 898.
READ: COVID-19: Six months after closing its borders, Australia will allow entry of New Zealanders
New Zealanders will be able to travel to some Australian states starting Friday without being quarantined, including New South Wales, Canberra and the Northern Territory.
Measures to ease a tough blockade in the state of Victoria have stalled. The state government had set itself to allow the reopening of all stores in Melbourne, the resumption of alfresco dining and free movement starting on October 19 if the two-week average of new cases fell below five.
State Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said Sunday that it was almost impossible to hit that target by next week, with the two-week average at 9.3, but added that some restrictions would be lifted.
“They won’t be as big steps as we expected, but they will be significant and allow us to move more freely,” Andrews said.
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