• Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced flights between India and Australia will be paused until May 15 in response to the increasing threat of the country’s deadly second wave.
• India recorded almost 350,000 new infections in 24 hours on Monday.
• The Federal Government had previously said on Friday it would cut the number of arrivals allowed in from India by 30%.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced all flights from India to Australia will be temporarily halted, as the country’s medical system is plunged into chaos as a result of a deadly second wave.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of the National Security Committee, Morrison said the temporary blocking of flights to India will allow Australia’s quarantine facilities to get “stronger”.

“We’ve always taken a cautious approach,” he said.

The pause will last until May 15 and the decision will be reviewed before then.

The announcement comes as India continues to deal with a record-breaking COVID-19 outbreak.

Morrison said the ban on flights to India had been informed by health advice and claimed it would allow more Australians to return from other locations across the globe.

95% of coronavirus cases diagnosed in Darwin, which is where government-arranged repatriation flights land, had been from people coming from India, Morrison said

Of the 34,000 Australians registered with DFAT and seeking to return home, 9,000 are currently in India.

Morrison said indirect flights through other cities like Doha, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had also been paused by their respective governments.

He also said Australia would send a range of medical equipment to India to assist as it struggles with a critical shortage of medical supplies.

Australia will send 500 ventilators, as well as 1 million surgical masks, 500,000 protective and surgical masks, goggles and face shields.

The announcement comes after the government said on Friday it would cut the number of arrivals allowed in from India by 30%, as well as consider similar restrictions from other high-risk countries and strict limits on people travelling to countries with large outbreaks.

India has been hit by another record jump in COVID-19 cases, with almost 350,000 new infections in the past 24 hours.

It is the fourth day in a row cases India’s daily cases numbers have hit world-record levels.

The country has so far confirmed more than 186,000 deaths and 16 million cases, with three million added in the last two weeks alone.

The Australian national cabinet is now holding twice-weekly meetings focused on getting Australia’s troubled vaccine rollout back on track and to make decisions around the ever-evolving pandemic situation.

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