We start with developments from Australia as prime minister Scott Morrison has announced that fully vaccinated Australians will be able to enter and leave the country freely from November it’s the first time
they’ll be able to do so without permission since Australia closed its international borders in march 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and it means millions of Australians can travel out of the country
and some 45 000australians who are currently abroad will be able to at last return home let’s take a listen to what Scott Morrison had to say it is will be time very soon that we will be able to open those international orders again and that will enable Australians
who are fully vaccinated and Australians and residents of Australia who are overseas who are fully vaccinated to be able to travel again and to be able to lift those caps this will happen next month that’s when what does
this all mean practically people will be able to travel when their state’s vaccination rate hits 80 percent new south wales which include Sydney is on track to be the first state to cross that 80 threshold in a few weeks
time and then there’s victoria containing Melbourne they are not far behind states such as Queensland and Western Australia say they may keep their borders closed until vaccine rates are even higher and Australia’s 14 a day hotel quarantine
which costs each traveler over 2000 us dollars is to be phased out will be replaced by seven days of home quarantine for vaccinated travelers travel will not immediately be open to foreigners but the government says
it is working towards welcoming tourists back to our shores our Australian correspondent shama Khalil is in Sydney with the very latest fully vaccinated is the key and 80vaccination for states is also the key for
this highly and hugely anticipated and really a very emotional moment for many Australians here in the country but also abroad as well the prime minister uh in his announcement said that states
who have reached um 80vaccination will be able to open international travel and those who are traveling and coming back or those who are coming back from overseas will go into a seven day uh
quarantine home quarantine essentially this is the end of hotel quarantine which means that those thousands and thousands of stranded Australians are going to be able to come back home much more
easily and it will be a much more straightforward process because there will be no caps on arrival as it stands at new south wales where I am will be the first state to open its borders internationally there are still a lot of details to iron out especially uh the proof of
vaccination, whether its certificates or passports or QR codes a lot of details about that but also the fact that different states have approached their coven 19 outbreaks differently, new south wales has decided it is going to live with the virus it’s going to reach 80
and it will open Queensland and western Australia they have a very different picture there they’re still going for elimination they’re still going for zero covet and they’ve always been the strictest always the first to close always
reluctant to open their borders so we still don know where they stand on international orders because it will mean a spike in coveting 19 cases so you could have a scenario in the near future where someone in Sydney where
I am for example will be able to travel to London repairs or new york but they won’t be able to travel to Perth or Brisbane because these states will still be closed so it will be an interesting if confusing scenario but
I think generally a huge sigh of relief for many Australians with overseas um travel now an option for so many people after nearly two years of being isolated well let’s continue with this story joined now by Viviana Medeiros a
Sydney resident whose fiance is in South Africa and currently unable to enter the country uh Viviana in light of the current circumstances your personal circumstances how have you taken this news, Krupa, thanks for having me up unfortunately
it’s not benefiting myself and my partner at this stage but we are happy for all the Australians that will be able to get home um there are many stranded Australians at the moment and there are many Australians here in Australia wanting to fly
out to see their families and to reunite and just you know have their children meet their grant their parents and grandchildren lots of hopes pinning on this reopening November as you’ve just said there um but
of course, that doesn’t erase so much of what’s happened in terms of the separations of the past 18 months and you’ve obviously been impacted by this just tell us what the past 18 months have been like for you and your fiance oh well um
it has been extremely difficult it’s been emotional um it has impacted everything all of our plans um our history the way that it’s been written it’s changed absolutely everything for us and we’ll never get that time back as you say
we’ve had to postpone many things our wedding inclusive um having another child and just being able to live together in Christmas new year’s all those important milestones anniversaries of them have been missed and just like myself
millions have gone through the exact same thing yeah sentiment shared by so many around the world know that you’re part of a social media group that looks to helping Australians reunite what have people been saying there are not many positive
things to be honest a lot of people they’re questioning this they don believe it they don’t believe it’s true until it does happen uh because we have been told in the past in November last year
we were told that you know stranded Australians would be able to come home but of course, that didn’t happen so I don’t think they’re very happy and just to add this doesn’t help any visa holders it doesn’t help anyone that that is an Australian
if you do have family outside of Australia that is not Australian citizens at this time it does not help us soi guess they’re very anxious anxiously awaiting that moment Australian border to reopen for the first time since Covid.
