SYDNEY - Australia is unlikely to reopen
its border to international travellers until next year but will
look to relax entry rules for students and other long-term
visitors, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Wednesday.
Australia has been largely successful in containing the
spread of the novel coronavirus, which it attributes to curbs on
international travel and tough social-distancing rules.
Birmingham said a quarantine rule for returning citizens
could be applied to international students and other visitors
who plan to stay for a long period of time.
"We can simply work through the 14-day quarantine periods
that have worked so well in terms of returning Australians to
this country safely," Birmingham said in a speech to the
National Press Club.
The return of international students will be a boost for
universities facing big financial losses with the border closed
as international education is Australia's fourth-largest foreign
exchange earner, worth A$38 billion ($26.14 billion) a year.
Australia has had more than 7,300 cases of the coronavirus
and 102 people have died from Covid-19, the disease it causes.
It recorded its biggest daily rise in new infections in more
than a month on Wednesday, with the most of them in Victoria,
the second most populous state.
Victoria reported 21 new cases overnight, of which 15 are
returned travellers in quarantine, taking the total tally for
the day to 22 cases, with some states yet to report their data.