Data reveals Australia’s new international arrivals cap is harshest yet

Australia’s new limits on international travel appear to be the harshest since restrictions on incoming passengers were introduced, according to a Guardian Australia analysis. The limit on the number of international arrivals coming into Australia via commercial flights, the so-called “passenger cap”, will be halved from 14 July over concerns from some state premiers around the Delta variant of Covid-19. The reduced cap means the weekly state and territory intake is reduced from the previous cap of 6,370 (which included an extra 300 spots for vulnerable people to return via Brisbane) to 3,070. While the reduction is due to be reviewed by 31 August, Scott Morrison has indicated it will be in place until at least the end of the year. Even taking into account the number of places available for people to quarantine at the Howard Springs facility, which takes passengers from commonwealth-organised repatriation flights and domestic travellers to the NT, the limit on arrivals will be the strictest since the beginning of the pandemic with the exception of a few days in February when Victoria stopped accepting international flights while other states had their travel caps halved.<br/>