The NSW premier has officially removed all rules surrounding COVID on cruise ships, furthering his goals of getting ‘life back to normal.’
Chris Minns signed NSW out of the Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols as of 28 August, which he deemed out of date.
“We have scrapped these rules because they aren’t needed any more,” Premier, NSW, Chris Minns, said in a statement.
“Passengers can take {sic} their own decisions to look after their health before and during a cruise ship.”
NSW joined Victoria, Queensland in Western Australia in enforcing a set of protocols that included passengers over the age of 12 needing to be vaccinated and mandating masks when embarking and disembarking the ship.
The news follows an announcement from the Premier last week that outlined his stance on the issue, committing to the removal of all COVID protocols.
Joel Katz, the managing director of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) welcomed the decision.
“This brings Australia into line with other countries internationally and gives clarity to cruise passengers ahead of the coming summer cruise season,” Katz, said.
“As the last major cruise destination to maintain cruise-specific measures, Australia’s ongoing testing and vaccination requirements had been causing increasing confusion among travellers, particularly as measures on land and at airports had been removed.”
