Inside the four-phase plan to return Australia to 'Covid normal': Overseas arrivals cut in HALF, lockdowns as a 'last resort' and hotel quarantine SCRAPPED for home isolation - and the key is STILL mass vaccination
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined four-phase plan to get life to normal
- During current phase lockdowns will stay 'as a last resort' and arrival caps cut
- Next phase will be when a certain percentage of Aussies are vaccinated
- It will involve home quarantine for fully vaccinated and no state borders
- Final stage will see no travel restrictions but testing for unvaccinated arrivals
Scott Morrison has outlined a four-phase transition towards living with Covid and finally ending the cycle of lockdowns and border closures.
The Prime Minister hailed a 'new deal for Australians' as he outlined the stages titled vaccinate, prepare and pilot; post vaccination phase; consolidation phase; and final phase.
'I have made it very clear today what is on the other side. If we all get vaccinated and we get there then this all changes,' he said.
Scott Morrison is pictured leaving quarantine after two weeks in his house in Canberra following the G7 summit
During the first stage from July 14, Australia's weekly arrival cap will be cut in half from 6,370 to 3,185 to decrease the risk of outbreaks of the more contagious Delta strain from hotel quarantine.
Some 34,000 Australians stranded overseas may now find it more difficult to get home, but repatriation flights to Howard Springs near Darwin will continue.
State premiers agreed that lockdowns and state border closures would be used as a 'last resort' - but no case threshold for lockdowns was agreed.
There will also be a trial to allow fully vaccinated travellers to quarantine at home for seven days, instead of 14 days in a hotel, after medical evidence showed they pose far less risk.
Trials will also allow international students and visa holders to enter in small numbers during this phase.
The post vaccination phase will begin when a certain percentage of Aussies have been vaccinated. The number is yet to be agreed as modelling continues.
The Prime Minister said Australia is on track to offer all adults a first dose by the end of the year.
New South Wales residents queue up to get vaccinated at Olympic Park in Sydney on Thursday
The final phase of the plan involves no travel restrictions. Pictured: Australians evacuated from South America landing at Brisbane International Airport in April 2020
This phase will have no lockdowns or state border controls except for in 'extreme circumstances' to prevent mass hospitalisations and deaths.
Inbound passenger caps for unvaccinated travellers will increase to 6,370 and there will be a higher cap for vaccinated travellers with 'new quarantine' such as home quarantine for seven days.
There will also be capped entry for students and economic visa holders, depending on quarantine space.
The consolidation phase will involve lifting all restrictions for outbound travel for vaccinated travellers, increased caps for students and visa holders and more travel bubbles will be set up with countries such as Singapore.
Australians will also be offered vaccine booster shots to combat any new strains.
The final phase will allow uncapped arrivals for vaccinated people without any quarantine and uncapped arrivals for unvaccinated people with testing before departure and on arrival.
In the second phase vaccinated travellers will be able to quarantine at home for seven days. Pictured: Healthcare workers and Defence personnel transport luggage from a Skybus outside the Intercontinental quarantine hotel in Melbourne in April
The Prime Minister held a National Cabinet meeting today with Premiers including Daniel Andrews (pictured) as they planned Australia's pandemic future
Before today, international arrivals were capped at 6,370 a week but Labor premiers wanted this dramatically reduced.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian - whose state has taken half of all returned travellers - said she didn't agree but accepted the decision.
'I am disappointed that every State hasn't done its fair share but I appreciate and have to respect the decision of National Cabinet,' she said.
'I don't support the view that other Premiers have that this means mistakes aren't going to happen and we're not going to have outbreaks. That is still going to occur,' she warned.
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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wanted the caps cut in half while Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews wanted the numbers cut by up to 80 per cent.
'We are at a pressure cooker moment,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday as the state's quarantine hotels filled up.
Mr Andrews agreed, saying: 'We have it within our power to dramatically reduce the number of people who are coming back just for these next three or four months until we get a critical mass of people with a jab.
Mr Morrison (pictured on Friday) completed 14 days of quarantine at The Lodge in Canberra, after returning from the G7 summit in the UK
'It won't be easy to lock some people out. But locking some people out is much better than locking everybody down,' he added.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Wednesday said the caps should not be cut because Australians should be allowed to come home.
Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said only six in 1,000 international arrivals had Covid-19.
The National Cabinet also discussed the troubled national vaccine rollout and mixed messaging around the AstraZeneca jab.
Mr Morrison on Monday said Australians under 40 could consult their GP about getting the abundant AstraZeneca vaccine.
But Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young urged said they should wait for Pfizer because of a very small risk of blood clots.
Australia's expert immunisation panel reiterated its advice that Pfizer was preferred for all people aged under 60.
Thursday was a record day for vaccinations with more than 160,000 people receiving jabs nationwide.
Almost eight per cent of Australian adults are now fully vaccinated, but the nation lags far behind all other comparable countries.
Mr Morrison late on Thursday completed 14 days of quarantine at The Lodge in Canberra, after returning from the G7 summit in the UK, and headed to Parliament House to lead the meeting.
The virtual meeting of state and territory leaders hosted by the PM decided to halve international travel caps. Pictured: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian
