Almost two years after the coronavirus-related closure of the Australian borders, some groups of people have been allowed to re-enter as of today.

Fully vaccinated professionals, international students and other eligible visa holders are allowed to cross the border again for the first time today. In addition, a travel corridor with South Korea and Japan was opened for fully vaccinated people, who can now travel to Australia without quarantine. The opening was originally planned for December 1. The government in Canberra had postponed it by two weeks because of the spread of the omicron variant.

Australia had long pursued a zero CoV strategy and largely closed the external borders for international travel in March 2020. Ultimately, however, the government had to admit that even this drastic strategy did not have the desired effect in the long term.