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Australia imposes compulsory supervised quarantine on all returning citizens and residents
March 27th 2020
In the past week, the Australian government has banned foreigners from entering Australia and issued a “do not travel” advice to those in the country. Read More »
At press time, the government toughened rules on Australian citizens and residents returning to the country. Previously those arrivals were able to self-isolate in their own homes, but now they will be quarantined for 14 days in hotels or other accommodation facilities before returning home.
“If their home is in South Australia or in Perth or in Tasmania and they have arrived in Melbourne, they will be quarantining in Melbourne,” Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, told reporters earlier today. “If it’s in Sydney it will be Sydney. If its Brisbane and so on.”
Individual Australian states have also introduced their own border controls, further dampening already weak demand for domestic travel.
Across the Tasman, Air New Zealand (Air NZ) has laid out plans to operate a limited schedule of international and domestic flights even as the government restricted the movement of people in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 through the community.
International capacity would be 95% below levels before the outbreak of COVID-19, Air NZ said on March 25, with seven flights a week to Australia, four a week to the Pacific Islands, three a week to Los Angeles and up to six services a week to Asia.
New Zealand also has closed its borders to foreigners and placed residents in lockdown.
Major regional hub, Singapore, has halted all airline transit traffic complicating travellers' attempts to return home elsewhere in the world.
