Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a 30 percent cut in flights from India last week, but Australian authorities are currently looking into the need for a blanket ban for a specific period.
The government has operated return flights through Qantas and Air India, but these flights are being halted according to the proposal to be considered by the Cabinet’s National Security Committee. Some Australians stranded overseas due to restrictions on arrivals to quarantine at the state hotel have argued that border restrictions violate their human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Committee recently called on the federal government to allow two Australians to return home while they settle their case.
A patient with COVID-19 is given oxygen in a car provided by Gurdwara, a Sikh temple in New Delhi.Attribute to him:AP Photo / Altaf Qadri
Health Secretary Greg Hunt confirmed on Monday that Australia would likely provide ventilators and did not rule out a flight ban.
“India is literally gasping for oxygen,” said Hunt. “And although we can help with the national medical inventory, your special request is for help with the physical supply of oxygen.
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“We are able to provide non-invasive ventilators. We’re in a strong position on this front because we won’t need it at this point. ”
The United States, Europe and the UK will also be sending emergency supplies to India in the coming days.
Dr. Pradeep Tanega, a member of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, said members of the quartet, which includes Australia, the United States and Japan, needed urgent medical assistance to India, the fourth member of the group.
The quartet was formed after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 to mobilize resources between the four countries and coordinate their delivery.
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“I think it would be very surprising if Australia didn’t make quick decisions on this matter tomorrow,” he said.
Dr. Tanega said his family members in Delhi have contracted the disease but have shown only mild symptoms to date, while his former classmates have died from COVID-19.
“I hear from one or two people almost every day who have died as a result of the coronavirus,” he said. “It’s a terrible situation, terrible.”
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