Australia is just hours away from returning to pre-pandemic interstate travel arrangements, with Western Australia set to bring down its hard border with the rest of the country.
Western Australia will reopen to eastern states from midnight, making travel freely permitted again between all states and territories.
Hard border measures had been in place in Western Australia since June last year, following COVID outbreaks in other jurisdictions.
The reopening comes after Premier Mark McGowan delayed the easing of the border earlier this year due to rising Omicron cases in the rest of the country.
Travellers into Western Australia will need to be triple-vaccinated against COVID-19 and have a completed travel pass to enter the state, including returning WA residents.
Western Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said he expected an influx of travellers into the state after months of being closed off to the rest of the country.
"We've had almost 23,000 applications (for travel passes), so we're expecting tomorrow will be busy," he told Perth radio station 6PR.
"It takes between 15 and 25 minutes to basically process passengers off large aircraft."
Travel vouchers will be handed out at Perth Airport throughout the week following the border reopening in a bid to revitalise the state's tourism sector.
Mr McGowan said $500,000 of vouchers for tours and experiences would be handed out, including 1000 vouchers for international students.
"When interstate and international travel returns in full on March 3, we want to encourage visitors to experience all we can offer while ensuring local tourism operators enjoy the benefits," he said.
"Western Australia's world-leading vaccination rates put us in the best position to manage COVID as borders reopen and we safely welcome visitors."
It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison and WA-based federal minister Ben Morton tested positive to COVID-19.
In a late-night statement, the prime minister said he was experiencing flu-like symptoms and would be recovering over the next week while working from home in Sydney.
"I had tested myself daily since Sunday, including (Tuesday) morning, with all tests returning a negative result," he said.
"I took a further test (on Tuesday) evening after developing a fever. The test was inconclusive so I took a PCR test which returned a positive result."
There have been 33 deaths reported from COVID-19 on Wednesday, including 28 from Victoria and five from NSW.
Almost 20,000 new infections were detected across the country, of which 10,650 were from NSW, 7126 in Victoria, 1053 in the ACT and 868 in Tasmania.
