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Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia.

Those who disobey can be fined and jailed, according to government officials.

According to a report by Reuters, this is the first time that Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home.

Take effect from May 3

The temporary pause will take effect from May 3, 2021 at 12.01am Australian time.

According to a media release by Australia's Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt, the temporary pause comes after the worsening Covid-19 situation in India.

Failure to comply with the emergency determination can incur civil penalties and up to five years in jail.

The temporary pause will be reconsidered on May 15, following the advice of Australia's Chief Medical Officer.

"The Government does not make these decisions lightly. However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of COVID-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level."

Second-highest number of cases in the world

India currently has the second-highest Covid-19 cases in the world with more than 19 million cases.

On May 1, India reported more than 400,000 new Covid-19 cases, the highest number of cases in 24 hours in the world.

Top image from Unsplash.