Australians could be threatened with JAIL time if they return home after being in Covid-riddled India in the previous two weeks under a new law
Australians who return home from Covid-ravaged India may face jail time under a new law that could be about to come into effect.
The law, part of the Biosecurity Act, could see anyone who has returned from India in the past two weeks potentially facing up to five years in prison and/or a $66,000 fine.
The law could come into effect as early as midnight on Saturday, 9News reports.
It would be the first time in history the Australian government had used emergency measures to prevent citizens from returning home.
The shocking news comes as the Australian government hit pause on all flights from India, where Coronavirus has spiked out of control unleashing a humanitarian crisis.
It has been reported some Australians, including cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson, took advantage of a loophole to return from India via Doha.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised restrictions to stop the return of Australians from India.
On Thursday 3,498 people died in India from Covid-19, at the end of a horror week where daily deaths averaged over 3,000.
India’s spiralling coronavirus crisis was today laid bare as images circulated on social media of the bodies of 22 coronavirus stuffed into an overloaded ambulance to be taken to the crematorium.
Another 386,452 infections and 3,498 deaths were officially recorded on Friday – but medics have warned the true figures could be ten times greater, putting daily infections at 3 million.
At that rate the country could see more than 30,000 deaths from coronavirus a day within a few weeks, but the country’s poor record keeping means the true toll may never be known.
More to come