Highlights
- Australia to end temporary ban on flights from India on 15 May
- First resumed repatriation flight from India will leave New Delhi on 14 May, arrive in Darwin on 15 May
- At least 40 passengers test positive for COVID after pre-departure testing
Melbourne’s Prashant Pandey is one of 40 passengers booked on the first resumed repatriation flight from India — scheduled to take off from New Delhi tonight — to test positive to the coronavirus.
The 34-year-old, who has been stranded in Allahabad in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, was in hotel quarantine when he received the disappointing news just hours before boarding.
“It’s unbelievable. I have no symptoms at all. MY RTPCR had returned negative when I got tested privately earlier this week. How can I be positive after three days of giving that sample, and that too, when I have been in quarantine all this time,” he wonders.
Qantas had organised a RTPCR test for him on 13 May, which has returned positive today.
“I am in shock. How can so many people test positive without any symptoms? I have just spoken to an acquaintance who is a doctor here, who told me that there is a possibility that the results may be invalid,” he claims.
Mr Pandey has now been asked to check out from the hotel.
“I have to check out by 2 pm IST. I have no choice but to self-quarantine for two weeks before returning to my family in Allahabad,” he adds.
Disappointment galore
Prashant Pandey (L) with his wife and parents. Source: Supplied by Mr Pandey
This will be the first government-facilitated repatriation flight since the ban on air traffic from India was announced last month. It is scheduled to depart from New Delhi tonight at 8 pm local time and arrive in Darwin on the morning of 15 May. The plane is allowed to have 150 passengers under the government’s social distancing health restrictions.
Australia's High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell told the that he is “disappointed” as many Australians would not be able to return home tonight after months of waiting.
“Regrettably, those people will have to return home and deal with the COVID that they have, or continue to isolate to prove that they don’t have COVID,” he said.
Help for a good friend
Qantas guidelines for passengers from India. Source: Facebook/ Australians stuck in India
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced via his official Facebook page today that a flight carrying 1056 ventilators, 60 oxygen concentrators and other essential supplies to support “our good friends in India” has departed from Sydney.
He said the plane used to carry these supplies will act as a government-facilitated flight for Australians seeking to return home and added that priority would be given to those classed as vulnerable.
'India flight ban has helped Australia'
Australia to resume government-facilitated flights from India after midnight tonight. Source: Supplied by PMO
“At midnight tonight, the temporary pause on flights from India to Australia ends and facilitated commercial flights by the Australian Government will resume as promised, with a strict pre-flight testing regime to keep Australians safe,” Mr Morrison wrote on Facebook.
He added that the temporary pause has helped Australia’s quarantine system prepare for receiving more people from overseas.
“That pause has worked. Active cases of COVID-19 in our hotel quarantine have dropped by over 40 per cent over the past few weeks, down from 292 to 171. In the NT, where our first flights will return, it fell from 53 to 4 active cases,” the prime minister said.
“The pause gave our quarantine system much-needed breathing space to minimise the risk of COVID-19 getting out of quarantine into the community and having a third wave here,” he said.
Australia was one of the first countries in the world that shut its international borders in March 2020, banning all non-citizens and non-permanent residents from entering the country without an inward exemption – a measure that has proved vital to its success in containing the pandemic that is currently raging through many countries in the world and has hit countries like India very hard.
Suggestion for government
Sydney-based Rupjeet Sagger, who owns a travel and tourism company in India, had travelled to his hometown Ludhiana, Punjab for business in January.
While his wife and children remain in Sydney, he has been assisting Aussie families secure tickets in flights via indirect routes, including the US, Japan and Singapore.
Mr Sagger said that while he understands the Australian government’s motive behind introducing strict measures for returning travellers from India, he believes there were many alternative ways to allow travel between the two countries without jeopardising the safety of Australians.
Rupjeet Sagger Source: Supplied by Rupjeet Sagger
“There are always two sides of a coin. While I understand the perspective of the Australian government, they should have shown some compassion to people who have been separated from their loved ones and are currently in desperate situations,” the 41-year-old businessman said.
“The government should instead strengthen pre-flight norms including allowing only vaccinated passengers to travel and ensure they have been tested twice – before boarding the flight and after landing in Australia to prevent any transmission,” he added.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 meters away from others.
Testing for coronavirus is now widely available across Australia. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
The federal government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone's app store.
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