Covid-19: Australia to lift ban on citizens returning from India next Saturday

Australia will lift a ban on its citizens returning from Covid19hit India from next Saturday and the first repatriation flight will land in the city of Darwin the same day Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on FridayThe Australian government for the first time in history recently imposed a temporary ban on its citizens from returning home if they have spent time in India up to 14 days before flying backThe government threatened to prosecute them with a possibility of five years of jail term or a penalty of 66000 Australian dollars USD 50899 The move triggered a backlash with several lawmakers doctors civil societies and businessmen criticising the government for abandoning Australians in India and threatening the travellers with a hefty penalty and a jail termThe governments order on the matter is set to expire on May 15Following the National Security Committee on Friday Morrison agreed it saw no need to extend it beyond that dateAustralia will charter three repatriation flights between May 15 and May 31 The first flight into Darwin will touch down on May 15 Direct commercial flights from India are still bannedMorrison said flights being organised to repatriate stranded Australians will be focused on bringing those Australian citizens residents and families who have been registered with our high commission and consular offices within IndiaIt will also be targeted at those 900 most vulnerable of the group he said after the latest national Cabinet meetingI have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DFAT to do a review of those registrations those who been registered in India to ensure they are current And that will assist a proper prioritisation of placing people on those flights Morrison saidThe charters will be undertaken by the Australian crews and they will require rapid antigen testing prior to departure he saidHe said that three flights will land in Darwin by the end of this month while Queensland New South Wales and Victoria were also open to taking in more flights from India which means there could be six flights potentiallyMorrison while addressing a media conference said a threeweek pause on flights from India has slowed the rate of Covid19 infections in quarantine facilitiesWe have already facilitated the return of around 20000 Australians from India and this has been a big task And that task will commence again on May 15rdquo he saidAll of this is about sensibly preventing a third wave of Covid19 here in Australia and doing that responsibly while at the same time doing everything we can to sustainably bring Australians home from what is currently the most significant hot spot for those travelling into Australia of anywhere in the world right now Morrison saidThe biosecurity order is doing its job It is doing what we intended it to do It will run for the term we intended for it to run and then that will be replaced by arrangements made beyond that point to ensure we can prevent the third wave he saidMedia reports said that Morrison was due to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Friday to see what further assistance Australia can giveI want to thank in particular in Australia our Australian community of people who are of Indian descent The Indian community here in Australia I thank them for their patience I thank them for their understanding Morrison saidI know they will be welcoming the fact these repatriation flights will be returning once again but also believe we will be able to do that because of the actions we have taken on a sustainable basis he addedOfficial figures say there are currently 9000 Australians in India who want to return homeWith a record 414188 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day Indias total tally of COVID19 cases climbed to 21491598 while the active cases crossed the 36lakh mark according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on FridayMeanwhile Australias chief medical officer Paul Kelly stood firm on advice on India travel suspensionWith the data we had in terms of the increasing cases coming from India where they have had over 2 million cases in the past week with thousands of deaths the contrast between their expense and our experience and I joined the prime minister in my heart going out to people in India and those with loved ones in India Kelly saidWe had to take that into account to protect Australia using the data we had last week And its working Kelly saidAccording to ABC news many Australians have fled to Sri Lanka from India The federal government is now working with Sri Lanka towards ensuring people who board flights to Australia have received a negative testThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever