The state’s decision to reopen its borders comes as the rest of Australia prepares to reopen to international arrivals on Monday (21 February) for the first time in nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Western Australia has previously delayed plans to reopen its border due to rising cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, but authorities have now set a date of 3 March for reopening as vaccination levels among the state’s population have risen.
International travellers to Western Australia must be fully vaccinated and take a lateral flow test within 12 hours of arrival and report any positive result. They must also apply for an online G2G Pass, which is a mandatory registration and declaration form.
Western Australia’s government will provide international arrivals with one lateral flow test from 3 March to meet its entry controls.
The state’s premier Mark McGowan said: “We held back Omicron as much as we could, and this time bought us the best chance to vaccinate our children and bring the third dose rate up as high as we can.
“The third dose rate has jumped from 25% when we announced the border delay and is now on track to reach 70% when the full border opening is implemented.”
Qantas announced earlier this week that it would continue flying its UK flights via Darwin in the Northern Territory until June 2022, due to uncertainty over the reopening of Western Australia’s border.
