Australia has allowed qualified staff and students to enter from December Business and Economics

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls easing borders “the main milestone on our way back”

Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from early December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday as it takes further steps to restart international travel and support the economy.

Australia closed the international border in May 2020 and allowed only a limited number of citizens and permanent residents to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Rules have been relaxed in recent weeks to allow access for foreign relatives of citizens, and Morrison said this will increase from Dec. 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visas and refugees to come.

“The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is an important milestone on our way back,” Morrison told reporters in the capital Canberra.

Australia will also accept tourists vaccinated in South Korea and Japan from Dec. 1, he said.

Education sector

The return of international students worth A $ 35 billion a year ($ 25 billion) will be a major boost to the Australian economy for the education sector.

Many Australian universities have relied on international students and the closure of the border has led to the dismissal of hundreds of staff at many higher education facilities.

An international group of students arrived in Australia from Singapore on Sunday after the travel bubble between the two countries came into force.

Boundary rules, rapid blockades and harsh rules of social exclusion helped Australia keep the number of coronaviruses much lower than many other comparable countries, with around 200,000 cases and 1,948 deaths.

Most new infections are occurring in the state of Victoria, which registered 1,029 cases on Monday. New South Wales, home of Sydney, reported 180 cases. Other states and territories do not have COVIDs or have very few cases.