Like most countries around the world, Australia is differently not immune to the coronavirus, and we’re now seeing a considerable number of cases spiking, causing a lot of worry and stress for many people. Many countries around the world implemented travel restrictions then quickly switched to closing their borders. Take Italy, for example, the number of cases rapidly grew at an alarming rate, and the government was quite fast at responding and doing what is necessary to contain the spread of the virus.

Effective 9 pm March 20th, all foreign visitors trying to enter Australia will not be granted entry, at all. The only people who will be allowed to travel in and out from Australia will be Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Australia Will Close Its Borders From March 20th

Australian Passports

Important things you need to know about Australia’s border closures:

• The government hasn’t provided a date of which this will stop and the borders re-open
• The entry list is minimal but also includes immediate family
• New Zealand will also be closing their borders but will be doing so earlier from midnight tonight
• Tasmania has also announced that they will be introducing an arrivals card
• Passengers that arrive back into Australia still have to self-isolate for 14 days

Per the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison:

“These arrangements will enable over the next 24 hours or so for people to make other arrangements, if they were intending to come to Australia,” Morrison said.

“For Australians, of course, they will be able to return and they will be subject, as they already are, to 14 days of isolation upon arrival back in Australia.”

The past couple of days have been absolutely chaotic with a new announcement being made every couple of days. On March 15th, the prime minister brought forward new travel restrictions as well as the introduction of self-isolation. Only a few days later, on March 18th, the Australian government updated their travel advice to the highest level being, do not travel. This was the first time I had ever seen almost the world coloured red with travel warnings, quite surreal.

The spread of the virus has heavily impacted all tourism companies, and both of our national airlines have been continually updating their schedules to reflect the abysmal demand. You can find more information regarding all of the Qantas capacity cuts here and can you find all of the Virgin Australia information here.

Park Hyatt Sydney

While everyone has an opinion on the government and their actions, I would really like to know how you feel about the way the whole overall situation has been handled. Large amounts of people believe that these measures should have been implemented sooner and it’s now too late then there’s the other side of the fence, and some people are thinking that most of this is being exaggerated – whatever your take, let me know in the comments.

I firmly believe that these measures are indeed needed, and I personally think we should have acted on the situation a little faster.

What do you make of the closing of the borders?