A Tough One For The Aussies: Either Face Jail Or Heavy Fine If They Go Home From India!

These time are crazy, simply crazy. The governments around the world are going to all possible extremes to ensure the well-being and safety of their citizens. The hotspot of COVID 19, which until a few months used to Europe is anything but at the present. The whole focus has now shifted to India. It’s a country, you mustn’t forget, has seen the severity of COVID 19 hit it from all parts. At the current moment, the number of COVID 19 in the country stand at 3.87 lakh. Moreover, the Indian authorities, have banned international travel until the very end of May, i.e., May 31 (earlier it was to have been in effect until April 30). That being said, several countries have simply debarred their citizens from visiting India.

Take Australia for instance. Do you know what stern measure has been taken by the Australian government at this moment in time?

Well, as it turns out, the Australian government has imposed a very strict imposition over its citizens where it comes to returning home (back to Oz), if they happen to have spent time in India for up to 14 days.

So the condition is, before flying back, you should not have spent 14 days at a stretch in India for you could well carry the risk of carrying COVID 19 and could bring it back to the country to further infect the harmless populace.

But if you happen to think that this is some random ban, then think again. Such a stern restriction has been imposed for the first time ever in Australian history. And that’s not all; the Australian government has threatened to prosecute its citizens with the possibility of spending five years in jail or pay a penalty of AUS dollar 66,000.

That’s surely not a small amount, isn’t it?

Here’s what NDTV had to report on the breaking development:

The new rule is likely to take effect from Saturday. The Australian media has reported that government would be passing a law under the Biosecurity Act to impose a fly back ban on those with a history of travel to India in the past 14 days.

The decision of the Australian government was taken in the backdrop of a Covid-19 explosion in India. The country is heading towards 4 lakh daily cases of Covid-19, having reported 3.86 lakh on Thursday.

Furthermore, at this point in time, there are no direct flights operating between India and Australia since Australia has already suspended all flights from India. This decision had been taken by the Australian government around three weeks ago. The measure was put into place in order to avoid the spread of the new wave of the COVID virus for as it is, Australia had paid heavily in 2020 whereupon the virus struck for the first time with elongated lockdowns and absolute shutdown of all economic activities taking a huge toll on the economy.

Here’s a matter of fact shared by NDTV on this key story:

According to the Australian government, there are around 9,000 Australians living in India. It said around 600 of them are vulnerable for Covid-19.

Furthermore, there also happen to be a few Australian cricketers who are currently participating in the India-based Indian Premier League in its fourteenth edition. There are also talks going on as to how might the Australian government bring back the stranded citizens from India, who are waiting to get back home. But an affirmative decision on it can be taken in the imminent future.