Flights from India to Australia have been paused until May 15, as the coronavirus pandemic rages out of control in India. The pause makes use of biosecurity emergency powers currently in place in Australia

WHY?

* The continuing rapid increase and likely under-reporting of the numbers of COVID-19 cases in India through community transmission

* Lack of verification mechanisms for negative COVID-19 test results obtained internationally

* High rates of COVID-19 detected from arrivals from India, with a high proportion of cases detected in Australia having acquired their infection in India

* A high proportion of variants of concern and variants of interest amongst those cases

* Community transmission within hotel quarantine, as seen recently in NSW and WA

THE CASELOAD

* Following the introduction of pre-departure testing and changes to international arrival caps in late January, overseas acquired cases among air arrivals fell from one per cent to 0.5 per cent in February

* Since then the proportion has increased to 1.8 per cent of recent air arrivals being identified as cases

* Since late March, there has been a sharp increase in the number and proportion of overseas acquired cases that were reported as acquiring their infection in India (over half of overseas acquired cases since mid-April were acquired in India)

HOW DO BIOSECURITY LAWS WORK?

* Health Minister may determine requirements necessary to prevent or control the entry into, or the emergence, establishment or spread of COVID-19 in Australian territory or part of Australian territory

* The penalty for breaching such a determination is five years' jail, or $66,600, or both

* The temporary India pause is in place until May 15 but the biosecurity emergency period is currently in place until June 17

POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES UNDER THE PAUSE

* Serious illness without access to health care

* The potential for Australians to be stranded in a transit country

* In a worst-case scenario, deaths

* Consequences can be mitigated through a temporary pause and exemptions for some travellers

(Source: Chief Medical Officer advice document)

Australian Associated Press