South Australia will remove domestic border restrictions from November 23 for travellers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Quarantine periods for overseas arrivals will be reduced from 14 days to seven from that date, while the cap on home gatherings will rise from 20 people to 30.
Authorities are expecting 80 per cent of South Australian adults to be fully vaccinated by November 23.
Other internal restrictions will remain in place but most are expected to be removed before Christmas as SA eyes a return to relative normality.
“There has to be some reward for the sacrifices that individuals and businesses have made, and today it is with great pride I announce our COVID-ready plan for South Australia,” Premier Steven Marshall told reporters on Tuesday.
“I know this will be a huge relief for so many South Australians who are wanting to get back to normality as soon as possible.”
People arriving from interstate after November 23 will still be required to quarantine if they are arriving from local government areas that are experiencing an outbreak or where the full vaccination rate is below 80 per cent.
Further restrictions will be eased once 90 per cent of the population aged 12 and over has been double-jabbed.
That is expected to be achieved before Christmas, allowing quarantine to be scrapped for fully vaccinated overseas and domestic arrivals.
Contact tracing and testing requirements will remain in place for the foreseeable future, as will the use of face masks in indoor public settings.
Almost 80 per cent of South Australians have received their first dose, while the full vaccination rate is at 63 per cent.
There will be no requirement for all individual local government areas to achieve the 80 per cent full vaccination rate by November 23, but Mr Marshall said authorities would redouble their efforts in areas that were lagging.
“I think there will be a big surge now in the vaccination rate,” he said.
“The health experts are now telling us that vaccination is our pathway out.”
Internal restrictions will remain in place until SA reaches 90 per cent vaccination, including going to nightclubs and stand-up alcohol consumption.
“We haven’t landed on the specifics of post-90 per cent but the prospects are excellent that there’ll be very limited restrictions, if any,” Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier expected the roadmap to provide a strong incentive to get vaccinated for anyone who was wavering.
“This is a clear message that you don’t have time to wait,” she said.
Anyone who becomes infected between the 80 per cent and 90 per cent thresholds will still need to isolate, along with their close contacts.
Mr Marshall said his government was still pulling together modelling around the reopening of borders but intended to release it at a later date.
AAP
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