COVID-19: Australia bans arrivals from India; offenders to face 5-year jail term, hefty fines

Australian citizens could face fiveyear jail term or hefty fines up to 66000 dollars if they try to return home from India after Canberra made the journey temporarily illegal in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly viral infection in this countryThe temporary ban begins on Monday and applies to any travellers who have visited India within 14 days of their intended arrival date in AustraliaIndia is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 300000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days and hospitals are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and bedsThere are an estimated 9000 Australians in India and over 600 of them are classified as vulnerable according to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaperThe decision was announced by the health ministry on Friday after a meeting of the National CabinetThe move aims at keeping the coronavirus spread in check in Australia as India is facing a surge in infections casesThe decision was based on the proportion of overseas travellers in quarantine in Australia who have contracted the infection in India Health Minister Greg Hunt saidThe move was due to an unmanageable number of arrivals from the country who have tested positive to COVID19 he was quoted as saying by the staterun Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABCBreaches of the travel ban could lead to five years imprisonment a 66000Australian dollar USD 50876 fine or both the report saidFailure to comply with an emergency determination under the Biosecurity Act 2015 may incur a civil penalty of 300 penalty units five years imprisonment or both the health ministry said in a statementAustralias borders have been closed since March last year and this week the government clamped down even further banning all flights including repatriation dashes from IndiaAccording to the ABC it is for the first time that Australia has made it a criminal offence for its own citizens to enter the countryThe ministry said the decision will be revised on May 15 following advice from the chief medical officer CMOThe CMO will consider the epidemiology in India and likely impacts on Australias quarantine capacity and provide a further expert assessment of the public health risk to Australia to inform a proportionate response it saidThe ministry statement said it is important that the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine system are protected and the number of COVID19 cases in isolation facilities is reduced to a manageable levelThe statement also expressed solidarity with India saying Our hearts go out to the people of India and our IndianAustralian community The friends and family of those in Australia are in extreme riskIndias daily coronavirus tally crossed the grim milestone of four lakh on Saturday while the death toll rose to 211853 with 3523 fresh fatalitiesMeanwhile the governments decision has also been criticised by several peopleEpidemiologist Michael Toole from the Burnet Institute says the decision to ban travel from India reflects the level of confidence the government has in the quarantine systemTo me it reflects a lack of confidence in the system and I think that is a shame Toole was quoted as saying by the ABCBy his count there have been 16 separate leaks in hotel quarantine in five capital cities since November last yearOpposition MP Jason Clare said making it a crime for Australians to return home goes too farI think what we should be doing is trying to make it easier for people to get home he said while suggesting that quarantining travellers on Christmas Island could be a solutionMelbourne General Practitioner and health commentator Vyom Sharma said the move by the federal government was disproportionate to the threat posed by returning travellersIt is incredibly disproportionate to the threat that is posedmy concern is that the government is so sensitive to the risk that they cant take in this increased load of people coming in he saidSharma said the move appears to be inconsistent with responses to earlier outbreaks in Europe and the USWhat strikes me as also bizarre is that USA back in January was returning to us Australians in much higher quantities of people who were testing positive and yet there was no talk of plan banning those flights then he saidOur families are quite literally dying in India overseas Many people are trying to come back We know that hundreds of people in this situation are classified as medically and financially vulnerable to have absolutely no way of getting them out this is abandonment Sharma was quoted as saying by the ABC news reportAustralia has offered to provide India emergency medical supplies including over 1000 noninvasive ventilatorsApart from that it has offered to supply a significant number of personal protective equipment PPE one million surgical masks 100000 surgical gowns 100000 goggles 100000 pairs of gloves and 20000 face shieldsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday 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