Oz bans arrivals from India; offenders to face 5-yr jail, fines

MELBOURNE: Australian citizens could face a five-year jail term or hefty fines up to 66,000 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 country.

The temporary ban begins on Monday and applies to any travellers who have visited India within 14 days of their intended arrival date in Australia. There are an estimated 9,000 Australians in India and over 600 of them are classified as vulnerable, according to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The decision was announced by the Health Ministry on Friday after a meeting of the National Cabinet. The move aims at keeping the coronavirus spread in check in Australia as India is facing a surge in infections cases.

The decision was based on the proportion of overseas travellers in quarantine in Australia, who have contracted the infection in India, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. The move was due to an “unmanageable” number of arrivals from the country who have tested positive to COVID-19, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation

(ABC). Breaches of the travel ban could lead to five years’ imprisonment, a 66,000-Australian dollar (USD 50,876) fine or both, the report said.

“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,” the health ministry said in a statement.

Australia’s borders have been closed since March last year and, this week, the government clamped down even further, banning all flights, including repatriation dashes, from India. According to the ABC, it is for the first time that Australia has made it a criminal offence for its own citizens to enter the country. The ministry said the decision will be revised on May 15 following advice from the chief medical officer (CMO).

US restricts travel from May 4; some exemptions allowed

President Joe Biden has imposed restrictions on travel from India that stops most non-American citizens from entering the US for an indefinite period from May 4, citing the surging COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Biden issued a proclamation on Friday restricting travel from India starting on May 4. Certain categories of students, academics, journalists and individuals have been exempted from the ban, the US State Department said. US nationals, those having green cards, their non-citizen spouses and children below 21 years of age, are among the various categories exempted from the restrictions.

The new travel restrictions have been imposed for an indefinite period and will require another presidential proclamation to end it.

Nepal to close 22 border points with India

The Nepal government has decided to close 22 border points with India amid a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring country.

The decision came after the COVID Crisis Management Coordination Committee (CCMC) on Friday recommended to the Council of Ministers to shut down 22 out of a total of 35 border points between Nepal and India, according to officials.

Now only 13 border points between Nepal and India will now remain operational. The decision comes in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19 infections in the southern neighbour.

Nepal has reported 323,187 COVID-19 cases and 3,279 deaths so far, but cases are going up at breakneck speed.