Singapore — Family reunions awash with happy tears began this week in Australia as the first planeloads of passengers from Singapore landed Down Under.
Early happy landings were captured in photos posted by the Australian High Commission in Singapore to its official Facebook page.
It has been nearly 20 months since Australia closed its borders in March 2020 – closed to non-citizens and non-nationals. Only limited international arrivals were allowed, and that meant that many of its own citizens who had been abroad at the time were held at bay.
Total arrivals were capped, and the government imposed snap lockdowns at the first signs of a Covid-19 outbreak in a community. That reaction is understandable if one recalls that in October 2020, the state of Victoria emerged from a scary second wave that led to more than 20,000 infections and 820 deaths in the state of Victoria alone.
As late as mid-May this year, Reuters reported that “Australia is still sticking to its plans to start re-opening to the rest of the world only from the middle of next year”.
So there was all the more reason for tears of gladness to gush when families were able to start reuniting before Christmas.
Heartwarming scenes over the weekend as the first travellers under the Singapore Travel Pilot touched down in Sydney and Melbourne!
📸 Getty Images Australia.com
Posted by Australian High Commission, Singapore on Monday, November 22, 2021
“Heartwarming scenes over the weekend as the first travellers under the Singapore Travel Pilot touched down in Sydney and Melbourne!” the Facebook caption said.
There are over 20 countries under Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane (VTL) that were approved, allowing vaccinated travellers to fly without undergoing quarantine. The requirements upon arriving at the immigration of Australia is to present a vaccination card or certificate including a negative COVID-19 test result.
In the shared photos, there were two women hugging each other tightly while tears were shed.
There were also shots of Melbourne airport staff happily welcoming the Singaporean travellers while holding placards, banners, and baskets filled with penguin stuffed toys.
In the photos, there were also some little kids who reunited with their grandmother, parents, and relatives.
The Facebook post was filled with positive comments, saying that it’s very heartwarming to see such a moment with their family being together again. Some were also jealous and hoped to travel again once everything is back to normal.
Some Australian politicians like Jason Wood and Senator David Van also commented in the post. “Great to see families reunited!” Mr Wood said in his comment.
Meanwhile, the countries that are currently open for Singapore’s VTL are Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. More countries will be announced and open next Sunday (Nov 28).
In the recent report also, according to Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the application for Singapore vaccinated travel passes’ website was down for maintenance on Monday (Nov 22) due to a high volume of applicants.
Singapore has 94% of fully vaccinated individuals while more than 71% of Australians are already vaccinated.
Singapore has tallied 1,461 COVID-19 cases with 5 deaths yesterday (Nov 22), which was reported as the lowest daily record after two months. Meanwhile, Australia tallies 1,300 COVID-19 cases per day. /TISG