AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.34%)
BOP 5.14 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.78%)
CNERGY 4.55 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.94%)
DFML 37.15 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (3.66%)
DGKC 89.90 Increased By ▲ 1.90 (2.16%)
FCCL 22.40 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.9%)
FFBL 33.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.95%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.41%)
GGL 10.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.46%)
HBL 115.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.35%)
HUBC 137.10 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (0.93%)
HUMNL 9.95 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.12%)
KEL 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
KOSM 4.83 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.65%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.33%)
OGDC 138.20 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.22%)
PAEL 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.16%)
PIAA 24.24 Decreased By ▼ -2.04 (-7.76%)
PIBTL 6.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.3%)
PPL 123.62 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (0.59%)
PRL 27.40 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.66%)
PTC 13.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.71%)
SEARL 61.75 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (5.2%)
SNGP 70.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.36%)
SSGC 10.52 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.54%)
TELE 8.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
TPLP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-2.46%)
TRG 64.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.33%)
UNITY 26.76 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.73%)
WTL 1.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 7,874 Increased By 36.2 (0.46%)
BR30 25,596 Increased By 136 (0.53%)
KSE100 75,342 Increased By 411.7 (0.55%)
KSE30 24,214 Increased By 68.6 (0.28%)
World

Australia tightens border further to curb virus outbreak

  • With almost half of the nation's population under stay-at-home orders, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said quotas for overseas arrivals
Published July 2, 2021

SYDNEY: Australia announced a dramatic cut in the number of people who will be allowed to enter the country Friday, as it struggles to contain coronavirus clusters that plunged major cities into lockdown.

With almost half of the nation's population under stay-at-home orders, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said quotas for overseas arrivals would be cut by around 50 percent to help prevent further outbreaks.

Under the current "zero Covid" strategy, just 6,000 people are allowed to enter Australia on overseas commercial flights each week and arrivals must undergo mandatory two weeks hotel quarantine.

That quota will be cut to around 3,000 by the middle of July, Morrison indicated, although the government will at the same time step up its private repatriation flights.

Morrison announced the decision amid growing anger over repeated snap lockdowns, the leakiness of hotel quarantine facilities and what critics have dubbed a vaccine "stroll out."

More than 18 months into the pandemic, less than eight percent of adults have been fully vaccinated.

"This is a difficult time when people are dealing with restriction," Morrison said. "There is still quite a journey ahead of us."

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth are currently in lockdown -- a total of around 10 million people -- in an effort to suppress outbreaks that delivered 27 new local cases on Thursday.

Although shutdowns are being lifted in Alice Springs, Darwin and Queensland's Gold Coast, the clusters continue to grow, particularly in Sydney.

Trying to address growing anger at the prospect of border restrictions entering their second year, Morrison previewed a "new deal" that would shift the country's strategy from suppressing coronavirus to managing it.

The government, he said, would soon adopt vaccination targets, which when reached, would allow the gradual opening of borders and a return to normal life.

He indicated borders would open first for vaccinated Australians and overseas travellers, who could also be subject to reduced quarantine requirements.

The vaccination targets are likely to be set by scientific advisors rather than politicians.

"If you get vaccinated, you get to change how we live as a country, you get to change how you live in Australia," Morrison said.

Comments

Comments are closed.