The entire world has apparently been
hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and it has certainly changed our lives in
several ways. In yet another change to acknowledge, the Australian government
for the first time ever has abandoned its residents amid the Covid crisis.
The Australian government restricted the entry of its citizens, who have spent more or less than 14 days in India. Thus, the Australians stuck in India cannot fly back to their home country.
However, if any one of them tries to fly back in an illicit manner, the government will either put them behind the bars for up to 5 years or will charge a penalty of $66,000.
According to the Australian media reports, this hard and fast rule is likely to take effect from Saturday. The government is conspiring to pass this new law under the Biosecurity Act to impose a flyback on those with a travel history to India in the past 14 days.
It may be noted here that this decision has come in the wake of the latest unprecedented surge in the Covid cases here with reporting nearly 4 lakh cases a day.
Also Read: Domestic travel bans can spike Coronavirus cases: Researchers
Already, Australia has suspended all direct flights from India for the past three weeks. The decision was taken to prevent the nation from the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 that have recently been detected in India.
As per the data of the Australian government, there are around 9,000 Australians stranded in India, and 600 of them are vulnerable to COVID-19.
However, the Australian is keen to explore the options of bringing back its stranded citizens to their home country from India.