Australia bans, criminalises arrivals from COVID-hit India

From May 3, Australian residents and citizens may face fines and jail if they choose to fly home from COVID-hit India.

Australian residents and citizens who have been in India will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail. The temporary “emergency determination”, issued late on Friday, is the first time Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home. The move is part of strict measures to stop travellers to Australia from the world’s second most populous nation as it contends with a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.