Tasmania has new border rules for travellers from midnight

Tasmania has announced the easing of restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers to the state.

From midnight tonight, any visitor to the state who is double jabbed will no longer need to register or pass a COVID-19 test to enter.

Anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated, though, will still be required to register their visit. They’ll also still have to quarantine and return a negative COVID test on the fifth day of their isolation.

“While we’re not seeing the numbers in hospital like other jurisdictions, the evidence in other states demonstrates that unvaccinated people are up to 24 times more likely to end up in ICU compared to those who are vaccinated,” Premier Peter Gutwein said as he confirmed the border rules for the unvaccinated would be reviewed soon.

He further urged all eligible residents to get their COVID booster shots as soon as possible, as well as asking anyone who remains completely unvaccinated to get jabbed. Gutwein also noted that Tasmania still isn’t living with COVID and remains in a transitional phase.

“At times it can be awkward and people can be anxious but we need to transition to a point where we can live with Covid,” he said. “Over coming months we will move into that phase where we treat Covid in exactly the same way we treat other respiratory diseases like the flu.”

Watch Premier Peter Gutwein’s full COVID-19 press conference:

It comes after Tasmania recorded 1310 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, January 18th. Two of those numbers were admitted to intensive care, with one placed on a ventilator. The state’s vaccination figures are reassuring though: 98.71% of residents aged 16 and over have had at least one dose while 95.19% are double jabbed.

For more on this topic, follow the Travel Observer.

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