Australia Announces Easing Of Travel Warnings, State Of Victoria Record Deadliest Day

JAKARTA - Australia on Thursday relaxed its COVID-19-related travel warnings for several countries, including the United States, Britain, and Canada, as it plans to reopen its borders next week for the first time in more than 18 months.

Australia will lift its outbound travel ban for fully vaccinated residents from November 1, following the use of a robust COVID-19 vaccine, as Sydney and Melbourne, its two largest cities, want to welcome overseas travelers without quarantine.

"The changes announced today are an important next step in reuniting the Australian family, safely reopening Australia to the world," Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

Updated country-specific travel advice will also help Australians access travel insurance more easily, Payne continued.

As Australia began easing COVID-19 travel restrictions, Victoria on Thursday recorded the deadliest day of the Delta outbreak with 25 deaths and 1.923 cases, the biggest increase in infections in four days.

Meanwhile, the neighboring state of New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 293 new cases, down from 304 on Wednesday.

Despite being hit by a wave of the Delta variant, the number of cases of coronavirus infection in Australia is relatively low compared to other countries, with around 166.000 cases and 1.694 deaths.

The Kangaroo Country is gradually easing strict restrictions in Sydney and Melbourne, helped by higher rates of administering the COVID-19 vaccine after the third wave of infections triggered by the highly contagious Delta variant, spread rapidly across the southeast.

However, the easing of travel rules is not uniform across Australia, as states and territories have different vaccination rates and health policies.

Under the updated travel advice framework, the 'do not travel' warning, which was imposed for all destinations in March 2020, has been removed. However, no goal will be set lower than 'level 2'.