Australia To Charge For 14-Day Quarantine, Tightens Restrictions On Movement

Australia has more or less closed its borders as part of its strategy to minimize the spread of coronaviruses. Currently, only citizens and residents are allowed to travel to the country, and passengers arriving on international flights are subject to a 14-day quarantine.

Also, With growing fears of a second coronavirus wave nationally, two states extended border restrictions and Australia's most populous state-imposed limits on the number of people allowed in large pubs.

So far, passengers have not been charged for the 14-day quarantine, which means that those who returned to Australia received essentially free accommodation and meals for two weeks.

But, starting from 18 July 2020, Australia will start charging for 14-day quarantine to travelers.

New South Wales, which is home to Sydney Airport, will begin charging passengers 3,000 AUD (~2,085 USD) for their 14-day quarantine.

Additional residents are charged at lower rates, with additional adults costing AUD 1,000 each, additional children costing AUD 500 each, and children under three years of age incur no additional charges.

Here's how this will be implemented:

- This will apply for arrivals as of Saturday, July 18, 2020

- Those who purchased tickets prior to July 13, 2020, still won't have to pay

- Travelers will be invoiced at the end of their stay, and will have to pay within 30 days

- There's no registration required, but rather you'll automatically be directed to a hotel upon arrival

- People with financial hardship may apply for a payment plan, while those with significant hardship may receive a reduced fee

As per the report, the New South Wales government has so far spent 65 million AUD on quarantine accommodations to house international travelers returning to Australia since March, which has covered over 35,000 travelers.

The goal is for the quarantine fee to reduce the financial burden of coronavirus on taxpayers.