Australian state to remove border curbs in boost for domestic travel

State restrictions are starting to be eased across the country, aiding the domestic travel sector and local airline companies, Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia . Victoria said on Tuesday it had zero active cases of coronavirus for the first time in over eight months, putting it on track to effectively eliminate the virus following a strict lockdown, with daily infections peaking at more than 700 in early August.

Australia's Queensland state will lift border restrictions on the country's two most populous states from December, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday, in a boost for the tourism industry. Queensland, a popular holiday destination, closed its borders to travellers from New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria in August following clusters of COVID-19.

However, NSW has since notched a month without any COVID-19 cases where the source remains unknown and restrictions on arrivals from Sydney will be eased on Dec. 1, Palaszczuk said. Residents of Victoria, previously the country's coronavirus hotspot, will also be welcomed if the state does not a record a case on Wednesday, which would mark 26 days without community transmission.

"Queensland is good to go," Palaszczuk told reporters in Brisbane. State restrictions are starting to be eased across the country, aiding the domestic travel sector and local airline companies, Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia .

Victoria said on Tuesday it had zero active cases of coronavirus for the first time in over eight months, putting it on track to effectively eliminate the virus following a strict lockdown, with daily infections peaking at more than 700 in early August. Qantas, meanwhile, will insist in future that international travelers have a COVID-19 vaccination before they fly, describing the move as "a necessity".

"We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say, for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft," Chief Executive Alan Joyce told broadcaster Channel Nine. Australia closed its international borders in March during the first wave of the pandemic and currently requires returning travelers from overseas to quarantine for two weeks.

The country has reported more than 27,800 cases of COVID-19 and 907 deaths since the pandemic began.

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