Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Monday afternoon the country would open its international borders to visa holders who have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine on February 21.
The borders have been opening progressively since mid-December, with international students and family members of citizens and permanent residents the first allowed to return.
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said Australians could expect COVID-19 case numbers to increase when international borders opened, but their reopening would not be the “main driver” behind the spike.
“We have a lot going on at the same time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we do see a fairly big bump in the road in terms of the number of cases,” Professor Baxter told Radio National.
“We have kids going back to school, we have people starting to get back to work, and we have international travel.
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“I don’t think international travel really at this point will be the main driver, I think just the normal mixing that we’re doing and the increased mixing that we’re doing will be more of a driver.”
The epidemiologist also warned the reopening would expose Australians to more COVID-19 variants, and rather than shutting off to the rest of the world, the country needed to figure out how to be more responsive to those variants.
The head of Tourism Australia, Phillipa Harrison, said Australia has been “a little bit ridiculed” around the world for its strict border closures and rules, and could fail to regain its share of global tourism dollars even when tourists are allowed back in.
“It’s the whole ‘fortress Australia’ concept,” she said.
“People just don’t understand why they’re shut out, why they can’t reconnect with family and friends, why they can’t come here to study. As the rest of the world opens up I think there is even less understanding of that right now,” she said.
Business and tourism groups welcomed Monday’s border announcement, but stressed the importance of Western Australia’s reopening after Premier Mark McGowan put off their scheduled date indefinitely.
With Michael Koziol
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Victoria records 9785 new COVID-19 cases, 20 deaths
Source: Philippines Alive
