The Federal Government announced this afternoon it will reduce the amount of arrivals from both commercial and charter flights from India by 30 per cent, due to a rise in cases.

Restrictions allowing Australians to travel to high-risk countries will be also be tightened.

Indian Community Leader, Suresh Rajan, believes there’s no problem with putting a pause on the flights, but says it may affect another issue.

“There are people like little Aishwayra Aswath who passed away at Perth Children’s Hospital, her uncle was trying to come here so he can provide some support to his family over here,” he said.

Earlier today, Premier Mark McGowan announced he would push to have a complete ban for travellers from India into Australia.

Mr Rajan is grateful the Federal Government didn’t take this approach.

“I was concerned about the McGowan approach to go for a blanket ban across all people,” he said.

Yesterday, India recorded over 300,000 COVID-19 cases – the largest single day rise in the world.

Mr Rajan recalled a personal experience of a family member in Delhi.

“On Tuesday my uncle started to find difficulty with breathing. They took him into a hospital and they had no oxygen in there, they had no emergency bed to give him, he remained in the corridor and he died a few hours later,” he said.

(Photo: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

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