Victoria is welcoming its first batch of quarantine-free international travellers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the state continues to reopen.
Fully vaccinated international arrivals touching down in the state from Monday will no longer have to undergo 14 days in hotel or home quarantine.
A flight from Singapore into Melbourne airport was the first of five international planes scheduled across the day.
Passengers don’t have to isolate if they are inoculated with an approved vaccine, provide a negative COVID-19 test within the 72 hours of departure and another 24 hours after arrival.
Children aged under 12 arriving with fully vaccinated parents, and people with a valid medical exemption will also not be required to quarantine.
Victoria won’t cap the number of fully vaccinated returning Australians wishing to enter the state, but unvaccinated people and international arrivals who don’t meet the criteria will be limited to 250 per week.
The changes come into effect on the same day as NSW.
In a move that will ramp up domestic flights along the usually busy Melbourne-Sydney route, travel between Victoria, NSW and the ACT becomes unrestricted from Monday.
Outbound international travel is also set to increase, with the federal government no longer requiring exemptions for people to leave Australia.
It comes as Victoria officially reached its 80 per cent full COVID-19 vaccination target and posted the lowest daily case tally in a month.
A further 1036 locally acquired infections were recorded in Victoria on Sunday, along with 12 more virus-related deaths.
Premier Daniel Andrews commended Victorians for hitting the 80 per cent double-dose target, a key marker in the state’s reopening roadmap despite restrictions easing two days earlier.
The next roadmap landmark comes when 90 per cent of Victorians 12 and over have received both vaccine doses, forecast on or around November 24, triggering an end to almost all COVID-19 restrictions across the state.
