The move comes as New South Wales state is expected to reach an 80 per cent first dose vaccination rate on Saturday, well ahead of the rest of Australia, and brings forward the expected return of overseas travel by several weeks.

“We want people back, we are leading the nation out of the pandemic … we are opening Sydney and New South Wales to the world,” New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, allowing entry almost exclusively to only citizens and permanent residents who are required to undergo a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense.

As well ditching plans for home quarantine, which had been expected to replace the hotel stays, Perrottet said New South Wales would welcome all overseas arrivals. But he was quickly overruled by Prime Minister Scott Morrison who said the government would stick with plans to first open the border to citizens and permanent residents.

“This is about Australian residents and citizens first. The Commonwealth government has made no decision to allow other visa holders … to come into Australia under these arrangements,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

He said the parents of Australians citizens living overseas may be permitted to travel to the country.

‘I’ve lost all hope’: Australia’s international students in pandemic limbo

Australians have been unable to travel internationally for more than 18 months without a government waiver, and thousands of citizens and permanent residents in other countries have been unable to return after Canberra imposed a strict cap on arrivals to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Many of these are now expected to return via Sydney, even though some virus-free states in Australia have closed their borders to New South Wales.

Qantas Airways said it would bring forward the restart of international flights from Sydney to London and Los Angeles by two weeks to November 1 and would consider bringing forward some other destinations that had been expected to start in December.

New South Wales, meanwhile, reported 399 Covid-19 cases on Friday, well down from the state’s pandemic high of 1,599 in early September.

Neighbouring Victoria state recorded 2,179 new locally acquired cases, the majority in Melbourne, down from a record 2,297 a day earlier.

Canberra, the national capital, on Friday exited its more than two-month lockdown, allowing cafes, pubs and gyms to reopen with strict social distancing rules.

The country’s overall coronavirus numbers are still relatively low, with some 139,000 cases and 1,506 deaths.

South Korea eases gathering curbs

A new panel established this week is drawing up a plan for a gradual return to normalcy in the long term, eventually lifting sweeping restrictions and reopening the economy in November on the expectation that 80 per cent of the adult population will be fully vaccinated.

From Monday, the government will allow gatherings of up to four unvaccinated people, and ease operating-hour restrictions imposed on venues like restaurants, cafes and cinemas, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a Covid-19 response meeting.

In the Seoul area, gatherings of up to eight people will be allowed if a group includes four fully vaccinated people, and in other regions, up to 10 people will be allowed to gather.

South Korea never imposed a full lockdown, but has been under its tightest possible social distancing measures, including a cap on gatherings of more than two people after 6pm since July when the fourth wave of infections started.

Singapore and South Korea to launch quarantine-free travel lane

The relaxation will also allow outdoor sports events to take place in front of crowds, rather than behind closed doors as at present, if 30 per cent of all spectators are fully vaccinated, Lee Ki-il, deputy minister of health care policy, told a briefing.

“For the past year and eight months, everyone has done their best to find light at the end of a long tunnel – the pandemic – and the glimmer of light is getting closer,” Kim said.

“The rest of October with a fortnight remaining will be the final test to stepping towards restored routines.”

The new social distancing rules will be imposed until October 31, after which the authorities will announce a more inclusive strategy for small businesses and the self-employed, hit hard by the sweeping curbs.

South Korea reported 1,684 new virus cases for Thursday, bringing its cumulative tally to 339,361 infections with 2,626 deaths. It has fully vaccinated 62.5 per cent of its 52 million population, and has given at least one dose of a vaccine to 78.4 per cent.

Singapore sees record daily deaths

The fatalities included a 23-year-old person, who was partially vaccinated and is the youngest in the island nation to die from the virus. A 34-year-old individual, who wasn’t vaccinated, also died. Both had multiple underlying medical conditions.

01:18

Ardern says New Zealand will shift to living with Covid-19 amid a persistent Delta outbreak

Ardern says New Zealand will shift to living with Covid-19 amid a persistent Delta outbreak

New Zealand posts 65 new cases

Auckland entered into a lockdown in mid-August to stamp out an outbreak of the Delta variant, with officials looking to end the strict restrictions when full vaccination rates reach 90 per cent.

About 2.6 million New Zealanders have so far been fully vaccinated, or about 62 per cent of the eligible population.

New Zealand, which had stayed largely virus-free for most of the pandemic until a Delta outbreak in mid-August, is now looking to live with Covid-19 through higher inoculations. It reported 71 cases on Thursday, the biggest rise in six weeks.

Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg