Australia has paused all flights from India until 15 May as the South Asian country continues to struggle against the deadly second wave of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced all flights from India to Australia will be temporarily halted.
The temporary pause will include the repatriation flights into the Howard Springs facility near Darwin.
Mr Morrison said Australia would send a range of goods to help India fight against the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Australian help would include 500 ventilators, 1 million surgical masks, 500,000 P2 and N95 masks, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves and 20,000 face shields.
“I stress this is an initial package, there’ll be more to follow,” Mr Morrison said.
He emphasized that repatriation flights will resume soon to bring the people stuck in India back home.
“We don’t think the answer is to just forsake those in India and just shut them off,” Mr Morrison said.
“I don’t see this as a problem we have to solve; I see this as a group of people we need to help. These are Australians and Australian residents who need our help.”
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