Singapore: Starting November 21, fully vaccinated Singaporeans, including students, will be able to travel to New South Wales and Victoria without being quarantined. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a press statement, “The quarantine-free travel arrangements will commence on November 21 for Australian states and territories that are ready and will be available for fully vaccinated Singaporeans travelling from Singapore who present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure.”
PM Morrison made the announcement following a meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rome. He stated that the quarantine-free travel for Singaporeans departing from Singapore is an important development in the country’s step-by-step strategy to effectively reopen to the rest of the world, as defined in the National Plan.
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan remarked on Facebook on Australia’s quarantine-free travel arrangement with Singapore, Balakrishnan said “This is good news, especially for many of our Singaporean students enrolled in Australian universities in these states, who will now be able to resume their studies onshore.”
Singaporeans must leave Singapore to be considered valid, and there is no necessity to spend 14 days in Singapore prior to the trip. Non-Singaporeans who leave the city-state must still be quarantined upon landing in Australia, even if they have been in the country since before the Covid-19 breakout.
Non-Singaporean students registered at the four Australian university branch campuses in Singapore, as well as those pursuing programs from over a dozen additional Australian institutions through commercial partners, are likely to fall into this category, according to the statement.
Australia: According to reports, South Australia will no longer need participants in its “foreign students arrival plan” to spend a fortnight in quarantine, as outlined when the scheme was approved by the federal government in June.
After announcing the total reopening of its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers, the authorities are apparently evaluating the need to charter special planes for students. “Things are moving faster than we thought,” said Study Adelaide Chief Executive Karyn Kent. “That’s a great thing for the students who need to get back at the beginning of 2022.”
Borders will reopen to fully immunized people from all Australian states and territories on November 23 under the state government’s Covid-Ready Plan.
The quarantine will be imposed in LGAs (local government areas) if there is community spread and fewer than 80% of the population is properly vaccinated. They further state that inoculated foreign arrivals must be quarantined for seven days, whereas unvaccinated authorized immigrants must be quarantined for 14 days.
It was reported previously that International students would be quarantined at Parafield Airport under South Australia’s experimental scheme, with the first students set to arrive in August. The flights that were scheduled on time were apparently cancelled due to ancillary fees that could reach $12,000 per person.
It was previously expected that international students will start returning from December end. Chief of Study Adelaide Karyn Kent stated that with aircraft schedules now “closely linked” with the relaxation of border regulations, it made little sense to continue with quarantine.
Her team, universities, and private institutions were “still working through” whether commercial flights to Adelaide would have the capacity to fulfil students’ demands, or if special planes would be required to transport them.
“We’re working together as a sector to help the students navigate all the information,” she added. “There are still some varying quarantine requirements around Australia and certain dates that things will change”, Kent said.
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