Highlights
- More than 250 passengers are arriving in Melbourne from overseas on Monday.
- Victoria has not accepted international flights since July 10
- New hotel quarantine program based on recommendations made by the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry
Mr Jain had to rush to India in September this year to attend to his sick father.
“My wife and my two school going kids stayed behind and I flew to India to be with my dad and took my youngest daughter along,” Mr Jain told SBS Hindi.
Mr Jain reached India in time to meet his father before he passed away.
“Since then, I made multiple attempts to return but it was so hard to get a ticket to come back home,” he says.
Mr Jain told SBS Hindi he booked his tickets twice and each time the airlines bumped him and his daughter off.
“I work as a forklift driver and I had to return to work. Then I researched a bit and found that there was a possibility to return but it would take time and money,” he says.
Mr Jain travelled from Kerala to Karnataka in Southern India to catch a flight from Bengaluru to the Maldives.
He then flew onwards to Colombo in Sri Lanka after spending a night in Male.
“I figured that India and Australia do not have a travel bubble nor do India and Sri Lanka. But Sri Lankan Airlines is correctly flying to Australia. So I reached Colombo via Male as India has an arrangement with the Maldives currently,” Mr Jain said.
“We had no option but to take this route to return home and we have spent close to $10,000 in business class tickets to do so,” he says.
After 48 hours, Mr Jain and his infant daughter finally landed in Melbourne on Monday morning.
Source: Supplied by Jain Joy
“We are now undergoing quarantine and hopefully will be reunited with my wife and kids around December 22,” he says.
Mr Jain and his daughters are among the first batch of passengers to arrive in Melbourne on Monday as Melbourne Airport welcomed its first international flights in more than five months.
SriLankan Airlines flight UL604 from Colombo landed just before 8 am on Monday, the first of eight international passenger flights carrying 253 travellers due to touch down today.
Victoria stopped accepting international flights since early July when it was revealed a number of hotel quarantine workers had contracted COVID-19 from guests.
The outbreaks went on to spark the state's second wave, which resulted in more than 18,000 infections and 800 deaths.
The state currently has recorded 38 consecutive days without a new COVID-19 case.
This time around, Victoria Police has taken the lead in enforcing the new-look hotel quarantine program, with support from the Australian Defence Force personnel.
Eleven airport and CBD hotels will participate, including the Stamford Hotel, one of two hotels where outbreaks occurred in June.
Hotel guests will have to pay about $3500 for their 14-day stay, while fresh-air and exercise breaks will be banned to prevent movement inside hotels.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction's restrictions on gathering limits.
If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: , , , , , , ,
