Australia finally reopens international borders

Australia eased its international border restrictions on Monday for the first time during the pandemic, allowing some of its vaccinated public to travel freely and many families to reunite, sparking emotional embraces at Sydney’s airport.
After 18 months of some of the world’s strictest coronavirus border policies that banned citizens from either returning to the country or leaving it, unless granted an exemption, millions of Australians in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra are now free to travel.

A flight by flag carrier Qantas Airways from Los Angeles touched down in Sydney at 6 a.m. local time, Australia’s biggest airline said, with COVID-19 vaccinated travellers allowed to walk off the plane without quarantining.

International travellers also arrived in Sydney via Singapore Airlines early on Monday.

While the initial flights are limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families, it sets in motion a plan to reopen the country to international tourists and workers, both much needed to reinvigorate a fatigued nation.

Thailand is also welcoming vaccinated tourists, without quarantine, from Monday, as is Israel, in a boost to global air travel after a trying 18-month period.

Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Monday that the travel changes would immediately aid the economy.

“It’s a day for celebration – the fact that Australians can move more freely in and out of our country without home quarantine, if they’re double-vaccinated,” Frydenberg said.

Television and social media footage showed tearful family reunions, with strict travel rules previously prohibiting many people from attending significant events, including weddings and funerals.

The relaxation of travel rules is tied to rising vaccination rates with more than 80% of people aged 16 and older in Australia’s two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, fully vaccinated.

Australians and permanent residents living abroad may now return, with foreign ministry data showing about 47,000 people are hoping to do so.

Most tourists – even vaccinated ones – have to wait to come to Australia, although vaccinated tourists from New Zealand will be allowed in from Monday. Citizens of Singapore will be able to travel to Australia, without quarantine, from Nov. 21.

Unvaccinated travellers will still face quarantine restrictions and all travellers need proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding.

The change in travel rules, however, is not uniform across Australia, as the country’s states and territories have differing vaccination rates and health policies.

Western Australia, which takes in one of the world’s biggest iron ore precincts, remains largely cut off from the rest of the country – and the world – as the state tries to protect its virus-free status.

Australia previously let only a limited number of citizens and permanent residents return from abroad, with a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel at their own expense.

But the change has come as it switched a COVID-zero pandemic management strategy towards living with the virus through extensive vaccinations.

While the Delta outbreak kept Sydney and Melbourne in lockdowns for months until recently, Australia’s COVID-19 cases remain far lower than many comparable countries, with just over 170,500 infections and 1,735 deaths. – Reuters

Source - BangkokJack

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Vaccines not lockdowns helping to reduce COVID-19 cases in Thailand

 Statements from the Ministry of Public Health yesterday reported by Daily News indicated that Thailand's vaccine rollout was continuing to gather pace.

Dr Kiatphoom said that the country was on the way to having perhaps 5,000 daily infections by the New Year though he cautioned that four main measures were needed as the country reopened its activities or this could spike again to 30,000.

He said that lockdown measures were now losing their effectiveness.

He cited the UK with a roughly similar population as an example of having a large number of daily infections though the daily death toll there was a manageable 143.

This was because of their advanced vaccination program.

Thailand ranked 26th for Covid severity at the moment, he said, announcing 11,200 infections and 113 deaths.

57 million does of vaccine had been administered that was 33.7 million first doses, 22 million second and 1.6 million third.

59.3% of the elderly had been vaccinated with a first jab and 62% of those with seven underlying health conditions.

There is a target of 4 million 12 - 17 year old high school students to get jabbed to allow schools to open - so far just 74,000 have been vaccinated or 1.7%.

By the end of October it is expected that 61% of the Thai population will have got a first jab, 37% a second.

With vaccinations picking up pace this would be 75% first and 55% second at the end of November and by the end of the year 85% of the population would have got a first dose and 70% a second.

He noted that Bangkok and surrounding areas were seeing a good drop in infections and this was generally being seen in the provinces except in four far southern provinces where greater measures were needed.

He described Thailand as being at a crossroads now with four main areas needed - the progress of the vaccine rollout, universal protection measures, testing and strict protocols in places like movie theaters and restaurants and other settings where many people would gather.

The gist of the Daily News report was that Thailand was finally on track with its vaccine rollout and there were positive signs but experience in other countries should drive the country's next phase of responses.

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Source - ASIAN NOW

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EU Opens it Borders to Thailand and Other Covid-19 Safe Countries

The EU (European Union) agreed Tuesday to reopen its borders to 15 safe countries which also included Thailand that gone 36 day without a local covid-19 cases. The EU excluded the virus-stricken US, as covid-19 accelerates globally with more than 505,000 deaths worldwide.

Europe’s piecemeal reopening comes as countries struggle to revive economic activity while fending off new spikes of Covid-19. With hotspots still surging in Latin America and in the United States.

After days of negotiations, EU members finalized the list of countries whose health situation was deemed safe enough to allow residents to enter the bloc starting on July 1st. Furthermore the US was notably excluded, along with Russia and Turkey.

Those on the list are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Travellers from China, where the virus first emerged late last year, will be allowed on the condition that Beijing reciprocates and opens the door to EU residents.

The border relaxation, to be reviewed in two weeks and left to member states to implement, is a bid to help rescue the continent’s battered tourism sector, which has been choked by a ban on non-essential travel in place since mid-Mach.

But with some 10.3 million known infections worldwide, the pandemic is “not even close to being over”, the World Health Organization has warned.

“Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.

EU Countries try to reboot economies

Even in the EU, where Covid-19 has stabilized in many countries, the lifting of lockdown measures is still touch-and-go. Above all as governments try to reboot economies facing historic recessions.

The UK, home to The EU’s deadliest outbreak, has already seen its sharpest quarterly contraction in 40 years. With its economy shrinking 2.2% from January-March.

The worst is yet to come, with economists predicting a double-digit slump in output during the second quarter, tipping Britain into a technical recession.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed Tuesday to deliver a “infrastructure revolution.” Above all to help the country build its way out of the economic downturn.

In the meantime, his government is employing a “whack-a-mole” strategy of targeted lockdowns.

While the government plans to reopen pubs, restaurants and hairdressers on July 4th. Schools and non-essential shops in Leicester, central England, have been ordered to close. The closure comes after a localized outbreak.

Germany, which has been praised for its handling of Covid-19, also saw its North Rhine-Westphalia state extend a lockdown. On a district hit hard by an outbreak of Covid-19 slaughterhouse.

Covid-19 Continues its havoc worldwide

In Australia, a new spike in covid-19 cases was seen in parts of Melbourne. Spurring new stay-at-home measures affecting some 300,000 people.

In Brazil, which is home to the world’s second deadliest outbreak of Covid-19, was reeling from its worst week yet. It registered a record number of 259,105 cases in the seven days to Sunday.

Peru is also suffering, with more than 9,000 fatalities.

And in Iraq, overwhelmed doctors are struggling with mask shortages, unpaid salaries and dilapidated hospitals as daily infections rise. “We’re collapsing,” said Mohammed, a doctor at a Covid-19 ward in Baghdad.

Iran announced another 150 deaths Tuesday as officials said the virus was still peaking in parts of the country.

Around the world, sporting events also continued to fall off the calendar. Including the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and the remainder of this year’s World Rugby Sevens Series.

Researchers in China, meanwhile, have discovered a novel swine flu capable of triggering another pandemic.

Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. According to scientists at Chinese universities and China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source - Chiang Rai Times

#Germany to lift travel warning to most European countries from June 15

Germany will lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent looks to further ease restrictions imposed to contain the corona-virus.

Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections sharply down, the government is looking for ways to restart the economy.

“We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued but replaced by travel advice,” Maas said, referring to EU nations, other Schengen countries and Britain.

The individual advice will be for a total of 31 nations, “provided that there are no longer any entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in the respective countries”, he said.

The advice could still include warnings against travel to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place.

Germany will be watching contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections were to reach 50 per 100,000 people in a week in the country concerned.

#Germany reported just 342 new cases of the corona-virus on Wednesday – down from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March.

The #Dutch government announced it will ease warnings against non-essential foreign travel from the same date.

#Belgium reopens borders to EU travelers

Belgium announced on Wednesday that it would reopen its borders to travelers from the European Union, Britain and members of Europe's passport-free travel zone on June 15.

Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced the measure as Belgium emerges from a three-month corona-virus lockdown, adding that bars and restaurants would reopen on June 8.

"From June 8 everything will be allowed, with exceptions," Wilmes told a news conference after a meeting of the country's national security council.

"The virus is still among us, it is still taking victims and will probably take more, and certainly if we are not vigilant," she added, saying large gatherings would remain banned until August 31. Nightclubs also cannot open before the end of August.

Wilmes said cultural activities would continue without spectators until July 1, when cinemas and other cultural spaces can open with a maximum of 200 people. Gyms can reopen from Monday, but with no access to changing rooms.

Belgium, where the European Union and NATO are headquartered, imposed its coronavirus lockdown on March 18. With 9,522 deaths from the outbreak, including in care homes, densely populated Belgium suffered one of the world's highest per capital tolls from Covid-19.

But cases have dropped off dramatically in recent days, with just 70 new confirmed  infections reported on Tuesday, down from around 700 hospitalizations a day in late March.

Phased restart

The EU set out plans in May for a phased restart of travel this summer, with border controls eventually lifted and measures to minimise the risks of infection, like wearing face masks on shared transport.

Some countries have already started reopening their borders in a bid to revive the embattled tourism industry.

Italy reopened to travelers from Europe on Wednesday, and Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

German tour operator TUI said Wednesday it would be resuming flights to popular holiday destinations, with the first flight scheduled for Portugal on June 17, according to news site Business Insider (BI).

“Our main destinations will be the Balearic Islands, Canaries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus,” TUI chief executive Marek Andryszak told BI.

However, the German foreign minister, Maas, continued to urge caution.

“I know that this decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel,” Maas said.

He also warned that Germany would not be repeating its unprecedented and costly effort to rescue stranded Germans from around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic.

In Berlin, residents were divided over whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea.

“If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid about coming back again because maybe it will get worse and they will close the borders again,” said Berlin resident Regina.

Another, Henri, was more optimistic: “There are masks, so I'm not afraid. I mean, I don't understand what this is all about anyway.”

Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

The government will review this after an expected European Commission decision next week on whether to extend entry restrictions for citizens of third countries, Maas said.

(France 24 with AFP and Reuters)

South African Airways aims to resume domestic flights in mid-June

South African Airways (SAA) aims to resume domestic flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town from mid-June, the cash-strapped airline said on Tuesday, as corona.virus lockdown restrictions ease.

SAA, which is under a form of bankruptcy protection, suspended all commercial passenger flights in late March, when the government imposed one of the strictest lockdowns on the African continent.

But President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation on Sunday that domestic air travel for business purposes would be phased in after June 1, when the country moves to level 3 of a five-level alert system.

South Africa is currently on alert level 4, a tougher level of anti-corona-virus restrictions.

Ramaphosa did not give an exact date when business travelers would be able to fly domestically, and SAA said it was preparing to resume flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town when permissible.

It added it had decided to extend cancellations of all regional and intercontinental flights until the end of June.

"SAA is committed to restart further operations on an incremental basis, and will regularly provide updates on progress," the statement said.

Source - TheJakarkaPost