COVID-19: Australians to face jail or up to $66,000 fine if they return home from India

The Australian government will impose hefty fines of up to $66,000 and even jail time to its citizens who try to fly back home from India amid a devastating surge in COVID-19 cases. The country’s Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that a temporary ban on travellers from India will come into effect on Monday.

The penalties are being invoked under the Biosecurity Act to prevent Australians from returning from India via other countries such as Singapore or the United Arab Emirates. The decision was prompted by a risk assessment based on the proportion of overseas travellers in Australia’s quarantine centres who acquired a COVID-19 infection in India.

"Failure 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," Hunt said, adding that the new measures were due to an "unmanageable" number of arrivals from India who have tested positive to COVID-19.

"The government does not make these decisions lightly. However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of COVID-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level," he added.

The move came after cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson returned to Australia via Doha from the Indian Premier League (IPL), evading the country's travel bans from India. The Aussie cricketers were stranded in a Mumbai hotel and unable to return home after the government suspended all direct flights from India until May 15. But they successfully travelled to Doha and departed home after the stopover. The loophole in the travel has since been closed. 

Australia to repatriate citizens from India soon

With over 9000 Australians in India, the Government is planning to restart repatriation flights as soon as they can, but due to the rampant coronavirus spread in India, that could be months away.

"We have to be able to continue to do two things – protect Australia and bring Australians home," Hunt said earlier this week.

Passenger flights from India to Australia have been banned until May 15, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on April 27 in the wake of the COVID-19 surge. After May 15, the government aims to resume repatriation and commercial flights as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, India remains the grips of a devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the daily number of cases topping 350,000 and conservative estimates of 17.6 million people infected.