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MELBOURNE (REUTERS) – 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 new coronavirus and seeks to reactivate tourism to help lift the country out of its first recession in nearly three decades.
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 to resume 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 on this, 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.”
Kate Baldock, CEO of AustCham Singapore, said that resuming travel between the two nations would greatly help businesses in both countries.
He said a recent survey showed that more than 90 per cent of surveyed companies indicated that they would use a travel corridor between Singapore and Australia, and that 95 per cent said it was very important to be able to travel to Australia.
“We need to find a new way of working, one that allows the flow of trade and services between major partners to continue, but minimizes the risk of further spread of the virus,” he said in a statement to The Straits Times.
“There is much to learn from how Singapore is reopening its borders in a post-Covid scenario. We welcome Prime Minister Morrison’s comments today and look forward to the Singapore-Australia travel resuming in the near future.”
Australia reported 19 new cases on Sunday, 12 of them in Victoria. It reported a death, bringing the total death toll from Covid-19 to 898.
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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