Western Australia Finally Opens its Borders!

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International and interstate arrivals to Western Australia are estimated to reach 15,000 today after WA’s hard border opened at 12:01 am for the first time in almost 2 years.

There were some emotional scenes as families torn apart by the closing of the WA border to almost all international arrivals reunited.

All arrivals into the state will need to have a valid G2G pass and will have to complete a Rapid Antigen Test within 12 hours of arrival.

They must be double vaccinated if from overseas and triple vaccinated if from interstate and any Australians arriving from overseas who are not vaccinated will need to complete 7 days hotel quarantine.

Premier Mark McGowan hopes the WA tourism industry will see tourist numbers climb after the border reopening with the state government handing out vouchers ranging in value from $150 to $2,200 as part of the “Gifts from Western Australia” campaign.

“When interstate and international travel returns in full on March 3, we want to encourage visitors to experience all we can offer, while ensuring local tourism operators enjoy the benefits.” he said.

The state recorded 2,420 locally acquired cases over night as an outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads with 22 people in hospital.

Western Australia remains in a strong economic position after heavy stimulus spending throughout the pandemic, “Western Australia’s management of Covid-19 has always focused on saving lives and protecting jobs, with more than $1.6 billion of business assistance provided throughout the pandemic,” said Mr McGowan.