Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced a 30-per cent reduction in flights coming from high-risk Covid-19 nations like India, following an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in institutionalised quarantine centres in the country.
After a national Cabinet meeting in Canberra, Morrison said: "What we have agreed to -- and this particularly relates to the chartered services we''re running into the
Northern Territory -- we will be reducing by some 30 per cent the numbers coming
through our chartered services in the months ahead."
The reduction would apply to both government-organised repatriation flights and commercial flights into Sydney, ABC News reported.
While the list of high-risk countries was still being finalised, Morrison said the announcement was made keeping in view India''s worsening second wave of the coronavirus.
India registered over 3.14 lakh new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest-ever single-day count recorded in any country, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,59,30,965.
"We will also be limiting the departure exceptions for Australians travelling to high-risk countries … to India. As time goes on, and the pandemic continues to rage, there are countries that are frankly of greater risk than others," Morrison said.