STUDENTS RECEIVE ALL-CLEAR TO RETURN
REACHING high vaccination rates in the Far North will also signal the arrival of international students under a plan released by the state government.
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe revealed on Tuesday that those studying medicine, medical research or allied health would be the first allowed back into Queensland to “back up” the state’s health staff.
The move has been welcomed by the Cairns Student Hub, which has spent the bulk of the global pandemic supporting international students separated from loved ones and hampered by a lack of employment.
“It’s a positive step and a sign we are moving closer to normal,” hub officer Danny Lopez said.
From January 2022, 350 students will be permitted to enter the state each fortnight before scaling up as vaccine rates improve.
Students must be fully vaccinated and will quarantine at Wellcamp upon arrival.
“This is important to do until we have higher vaccination rates,” he said.
“We don’t know if, or when, mutation number five will arrive.”
The $5.8bn international education sector supported 27,500 Queensland jobs before Covid-19, with more than 20,000 international students enrolled in Queensland universities.