Australia Will Lift COVID-19 Test Requirements For Travelers Coming From China, Hong Kong And Macau

Illustration of terminal one Sydney Airport, Australia. (Wikimedia Commons/Mw12310)

JAKARTA - Australia will lift requirements for travelers arriving from China to carry out a COVID-19 test before departure from midnight on March 11, the country's health minister said in a statement on Thursday.

Apart from China, these measures also apply to travelers from Hong Kong and Macau.

"This is a reasonable and measurable decision based on China's declining number of COVID-19 cases, China's regular data update on the number of cases, and the fact that we have strengthened our capacity to detect and respond to variants of international concern emerging in Australia," Health Minister Mark Butler said. March 9.

The Australian government says it has been monitoring the situation in China, reviewing epidemiological data from time to time highlighting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths that peaked in late December and early January.

"Several other countries that implemented similar actions recently revoked their arrangements or announced their intention to revoke them, including the United States, Korea, Japan, France, and Italy," the statement continued, citing Skynews Australia.

Separately, China's tourism website has shown several flights operating between mainland China and Australia today. For example, one-way tickets from Shanghai to Sydney ranged from 3.000 yuan (USD 430) to around 10.000 yuan on Friday, reported by the Global Times.

In addition, China's exit journey has recovered rapidly with the stable situation of COVID-19 in the Bamboo Curtain country and the resumption of international flights. According to a report by the Chinese Tourism Academy in February, Chinese tourists are expected to make more than 90 million trips out by 2023, returning to about 30 percent from levels before the coronavirus pandemic.