Key issue:
What regime of border protection and travel restrictions will be needed in the short and medium term?
How should Australia coordinate its response to the changing realities of the pandemic elsewhere?
The Group of 8 Roadmap to Recovery – A report to the Nation.
This crisis is a pandemic which means that Australia’s ongoing success in containing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is also contingent on what other countries do to contain their respective epidemics. A clinically proven, efficacious, vaccine will be important to aiding both Australian and global recovery. Until a vaccine is developed and widely available border measures and travel restrictions remain critical to Australia’s health security and economic recovery.
Please read pages 83 – 91
A Green Zone Country
In this context, should the Australian Government agree to permit international travel from any country in order to help re-invigorate the Australian travel and tourism industry and support economic recovery, it is essential that a number of conditions are met.
The first is that any country seeking relaxation of Australia’s border controls must be certified as free from COVID-19 infections for a minimum of 28 days
(i.e. double the length of the incubation period).
Second, the requesting country must commit to implement external border control policies identical to Australia, such as mandatory quarantine for all international travellers other than Australian citizens and permanent residents. This is to both protect each respective country while also ensuring costs are shared equitably.
Third, these policies must be strictly adhered to and enforced. Any deviation would result in the suspension of any special arrangements given the risk of reintroduction of the virus into Australia
Control Levels applied in opening Green Zone Countries
These are only examples:
– Level 1 – when Green Zone Countries first open up – which might last for 6 months until safety consistencies can be understood by the CMO for that countries’ population.
Controls / Risk Management might be –
- Length of time permitted to visit Australia
- Restricted areas for visitation
- Requirement for Pre Booked and Managed Itineraries
- why – because if the traveller becomes sick with Covid there are various immediate actions that need management for which the Government will not be responsible e.g. changed itineraries, quarantine logistics, testing schedules, hospitalisation logistics and managed passage home
- Reported Itineraries
- why – because the COVIDSafe app is a tracing process with delays to contact, meaning the traveller might have already left the county before they are contacted. Reported Itineraries allow for immediate action when a Covid compromise sparks, allowing Health Authorities ( DoH) to immediately contact travellers via their goPassport App Notification and Chat. e.g. All people on the tour with the infected travellers the days prior can be instantly messaged, the supplier of the tours can also be immediately alerted clients, accommodation alerted – this is instant allowing for immediate action to be taken and further risks limited and delays to suppliers operations mitigated.
- Random Testing during visit.
- Quarantine backup
Level 2 – following six month the CMO might relax various controls for another 6 months
- Increased length of time permitted to visit
- More open areas for visitation
- Some Independent travel, whilst managed Itineraries will be allowed access to wider locations
- Reported Itineraries
- Random Testing during visit.
- Quarantine backup
Level 3 – following the next six months the CMO might relax controls to allow for the return to travel pre Covid-19 disruption, with some restrictions on social distancing, face masks and sanitation procedures.