Australia fully open to travel as last state reopens border

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia is fully open to vaccinated travelers after Western Australia became the last state to lift border restrictions. Western Australia closed its borders to most international and interstate travelers in 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday four months after Sydney began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas. People had emotional reunions in Perth’s airport as the first of a scheduled 27 domestic and international flights began arriving. Western Australia had stopped the local spread of the coronavirus throughout the pandemic until the omicron variant arrived this year.