Australia extends international travel ban

Australians will have to wait even longer before they can travel overseas, as the travel ban has been extended to mid-September, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Due to the pandemic, on March 18, the government banned Australians from travelling overseas until further notice and advised those on an overseas trip to return to the country as soon as possible.

The three-month emergency powers were set to expire next Wednesday, but were extended for another three months until September 17.

The Health Department said the extension was to 'ensure the Australian government continues to have an appropriate range of powers available to manage the ongoing pandemic ­response'.

'The outgoing travel restriction on Australian citizens and permanent residents is currently in effect for the duration of the emergency period,' it said.

Australia's borders have been shut to all international arrivals except for citizens and permanent residents since March 20. Those allowed to enter Australia are required to stay in hotel quarantine for 14 days.

Last month, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed the creation of a “safe corridor” that will allow travel between countries which have successfully contained their coronavirus outbreaks, in a bid to revive tourism once border restrictions are lifted.

Participants in the video call included the Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis, and Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison.

Meanwhile over the weekend, Mitsotakis announced that Greece is ready to welcome tourists this summer with priority to health safety.

“When the summer tourist season comes full circle,” said Mitsotakis, “we will be able to say that we did not just manage the first wave of the pandemic in an exemplary way, but that we also set the bar very high on how we can reopen tourism safely – above all else,” he exclaimed.

When asked if opening the country to visitors might jeopardise the government’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, Mitsotakis said that “there is no risk-free approach…we are doing the best we can” and emphasised that the economy will operate under “very robust guidelines” enforcing social distancing and other measures, such as mandatory wearing of masks in transport as well as by all catering personnel.

“I believe the worst (of the pandemic) is over and I don’t think a full lockdown will be necessary…in case of a localised outbreak, we have the medical and civil protection infrastructure in place to tackle it safely and efficiently,” Mitsotakis said.