SYDNEY: Australia’s second-largest city welcomed its first international passenger flight in five months on Monday, an arrival that will test the state of Victoria’s revamped hotel quarantine system.
Australia has since March closed its borders to non-citizens, but airports serving Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, stopped accepting any arrivals in late June after an outbreak of COVID-19 that begun at two hotels where arrivals were quarantining.
More than 20,000 infections were recorded in Victoria when hotel staff contracted the virus from people returning from overseas.
The outbreak has been widely blamed on failures of private contractors to follow protocol. With hundreds of people expected to arrive in Victoria each week, state authorities have said police officers will now enforce stricter standards.
The new system will greet Australians arriving on a flight from Sri Lanka, who will now no longer be allowed to leave their rooms under the new hotel quarantine restrictions.
The system is similar to the model used in Sydney, capital of New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, which has accommodated thousands of people returning without any clusters emerging.
With New South Wales recording just one local infection in the last month, the state has gradually eased most social distancing restrictions.
From Monday, dubbed by the state government as “freedom day,” nearly all venues were allowed to accommodate one person for every 2 square meters. Previously venues were restricted to one patron per 4 square meters.
There will also be no limit on the number of people attending weddings and funerals.
Western Australia said that from Tuesday it will remove restrictions on people arriving from Victoria and New South Wales. The move will see nearly all Australia’s internal borders reopened, a boost to domestic tourism operators and airlines such as Qantas and Virgin Australia.
Australia has reported about 28,000 cases of COVID-19 and 908 deaths since the pandemic began. Just 44 active cases remain in the country, with most in hotel quarantine.
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Melbourne welcomes first international flight in 5 months as coronavirus curbs ease
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Melbourne welcomes first international flight in 5 months as coronavirus curbs ease
- Airports serving Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, stopped accepting any arrivals in late June
South Korea says civilians sent drones to North Korea four times, harming ties
- South Korea is investigating civilians for sending drones to North Korea
- North Korean leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong warns Seoul over drone provocations
SEOUL: South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Wednesday that three civilians had sent drones to North Korea on four occasions since President Lee Jae Myung took office last year, harming inter-Korean ties.
The trio flew the aircraft between September 2025 and January, Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military. Drones crashed on two occasions in North Korea, in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said.
On two other attempts the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Chung said.
South Korean authorities were investigating the three civilians on suspicion of violating the aviation safety act and breaching criminal law by benefiting the enemy, he said.
Some officials at South Korea’s military intelligence agency and the National Intelligence Service were also under investigation for alleged involvement with the trio, he said.
“We express official regret to the North,” Chung said, adding that the government was taking the drone incursion incidents very seriously.
North Korea has reacted angrily, saying last month that drones from South Korea entered its airspace, after another intrusion in September.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, urged Seoul to investigate the incident, warning provocations could result in “terrible situations.”
Chung also expressed regret over South Korea sending 18 drones to North Korea under the direction of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“It was an extremely dangerous incident aimed to induce an attack against South Korea by sending 18 drones on 11 occasions, to sensitive areas in North Korea including the airspace over the Workers’ Party office,” he said.
South Korean prosecutors have indicted Yoon, who was ousted in April 2025, on charges that include aiding an enemy state.
They accused him and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to raise tensions and justify his martial law decree.
Yoon denies wrongdoing.
South Korea’s government plans to strengthen penalties for sending drones to the North, Chung said, including up to a one-year jail term or a 10 million won ($6,928) fine.
A clause will also be added to South Korea’s inter-Korean relations development act to block actions that heighten tensions on the peninsula, he said.
The trio flew the aircraft between September 2025 and January, Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military. Drones crashed on two occasions in North Korea, in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said.
On two other attempts the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Chung said.
South Korean authorities were investigating the three civilians on suspicion of violating the aviation safety act and breaching criminal law by benefiting the enemy, he said.
Some officials at South Korea’s military intelligence agency and the National Intelligence Service were also under investigation for alleged involvement with the trio, he said.
“We express official regret to the North,” Chung said, adding that the government was taking the drone incursion incidents very seriously.
North Korea has reacted angrily, saying last month that drones from South Korea entered its airspace, after another intrusion in September.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, urged Seoul to investigate the incident, warning provocations could result in “terrible situations.”
Chung also expressed regret over South Korea sending 18 drones to North Korea under the direction of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“It was an extremely dangerous incident aimed to induce an attack against South Korea by sending 18 drones on 11 occasions, to sensitive areas in North Korea including the airspace over the Workers’ Party office,” he said.
South Korean prosecutors have indicted Yoon, who was ousted in April 2025, on charges that include aiding an enemy state.
They accused him and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to raise tensions and justify his martial law decree.
Yoon denies wrongdoing.
South Korea’s government plans to strengthen penalties for sending drones to the North, Chung said, including up to a one-year jail term or a 10 million won ($6,928) fine.
A clause will also be added to South Korea’s inter-Korean relations development act to block actions that heighten tensions on the peninsula, he said.
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