Some of the world’s longest and toughest Covid-induced border curbs are finally being eased, with Asia-Pacific countries taking their firmest steps yet toward reopening to international travel in recent days.
From Singapore to Sydney, Bali to Bangkok, authorities have announced a flurry of plans to welcome vaccinated travelers by drastically reducing or completely removing quarantine requirements in place for most of the pandemic. For these places, the easing is a significant shift toward opening up just as the traditional year-end holiday season approaches.
“For double-vaccinated people around the world, Sydney, New South Wales is open for business,” NSW state Premier Dominic Perrottet said laat Friday, as Australia’s most populous state announced it will waive the 14-day quarantine for travelers from November – though the federal government later clarified it would be limited to residents.
Lengthy quarantine for travelers was a signature of much of the Asia-Pacific region’s containment playbook, with quarantines of as long as 21 days in some places catching most infections at the border.
Until the delta variant came along, the strategy helped places like China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore all but eliminate the virus at one point.
For nations like Thailand and Malaysia, such quarantines helped keep cases from overwhelming the population for a time. But those strict rules left the region falling behind as the rest of the world started reopening months ago.
Still grounded
The New South Wales move followed announcements by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore earlier in the month to either do away with restrictions on who can enter or ease rules on entry.
Singapore Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong said the government is committed to reopening the country gradually after reimposing domestic curbs such as making work-from-home the default and cutting the number of diners to deal with a surge in cases.
Singapore in the past week…