Predictions of when international flights may resume/bans lifted

[MEL_Traveller]

That's completely false. The Australian government and unfortunately many, many Australians actually don't care about stranded Aussies - this is a fact, there are no ifs, whens or buts about this. Arguing against this is just ignoring all the facts.

Living within our current quarantine capabilities and whether or not people 'care' are not mutually exclusive.

The Guardian's poll in February showed that while 70% of Australians supported international border closures, the same number supported the borders opening once the vaccine roll out had been completed.

 

[Pushka]

And I am the opposite. I would not go to the UK. I have lived through this pandemic in regional NSW, my parents in the UK. Apart from the original lockdown in March 2020 my family’s life has gone on pretty much as normal except for being able to visit our extended family including my parents in Scotland. In contrast my mum and dad have until very recently been confined to their own local government area, no visitors to their home and outside supermarkets/ banks / post office nothing has been opened. Many Weddings/ Funerals/ Milestone birthdays have been conducted via zoom. My mum has been cutting her and my Dad’s hair. Things are starting to open up for them but most of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 has been extremely difficult.
Covid is certainly not a competition and I’m glad that things are starting to improve in the UK. It has been a long hard battle and I wish my parents and everyone the best.

Would you go to the UK in say, July if things were eased?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Would you go to the UK in say, July if things were eased?

I am hoping to go sometime this year. I’m fully vaccinated and not in a high risk health category.
It pretty much depends on what the Australian govt do with respect to border controls and hopefully the ability to quarantine at home on return.

 

[louie-m]

And I am the opposite. I would not go to the UK. I have lived through this pandemic in regional NSW, my parents in the UK. Apart from the original lockdown in March 2020 my family’s life has gone on pretty much as normal except for being able to visit our extended family including my parents in Scotland. In contrast my mum and dad have until very recently been confined to their own local government area, no visitors to their home and outside supermarkets/ banks / post office nothing has been opened. Many Weddings/ Funerals/ Milestone birthdays have been conducted via zoom. My mum has been cutting her and my Dad’s hair. Things are starting to open up for them but most of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 has been extremely difficult.
Covid is certainly not a competition and I’m glad that things are starting to improve in the UK. It has been a long hard battle and I wish my parents and everyone the best.

I so want to go to the UK. My parents are both 89. Depending on which website you use, their life expectancies at 88 (when this all started) were 4.67 and 5.43 years or will be 4.1 and 4.7 years when they hit 90. Obviously could be longer or could be shorter, but the two year minimum separation will undoubtedly be a significant proportion of their remaining lives. Yet I can't visit them because the powers that be over here refuse to devote sufficient resources to hotel quarantine or to allow home quarantine for fully vaccinated people.

 

[mviy]

I so want to go to the UK. My parents are both 89.

It’s situations like yours that highlight how unjust the bans are. As a temporary measure for a few months, understandable. But they should have found a way to ease restrictions somewhat by now, yet they haven’t.

 

[Seat0B]

It’s situations like yours that highlight how unjust the bans are. As a temporary measure for a few months, understandable. But they should have found a way to ease restrictions somewhat by now, yet they haven’t.

and situations like this too:

Celebrities come and go, but Mickey is banned from visiting his needy parents in India. It doesn't make sense

We are a country of people who live across borders and across seas. The trauma of families separated by COVID-19 demonstrates the urgent need to make provision for that, writes Virgina Trioli.

www.abc.net.au

 

[DC3]

... But they should have found a way to ease restrictions somewhat by now, yet they haven’t.

Yes, ‘they’, referring to ....? Are we allowed to name him?

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

I so want to go to the UK. My parents are both 89. Depending on which website you use, their life expectancies at 88 (when this all started) were 4.67 and 5.43 years or will be 4.1 and 4.7 years when they hit 90. Obviously could be longer or could be shorter, but the two year minimum separation will undoubtedly be a significant proportion of their remaining lives. Yet I can't visit them because the powers that be over here refuse to devote sufficient resources to hotel quarantine or to allow home quarantine for fully vaccinated people.

Eat next to someone at a restaurant that is found to have covid .... "please stay at home, and get tested" (ie. go out but we trust you)

Sit at the far end of a plane from people "go into this small room and we will lock you in for 14 days"

either you need to quarantine everyone associated with every outbreak, or you need to trust people to do home quarantine. Plane or restaurant shouldnt be treated differently.

 

[louie-m]

and situations like this too:

Celebrities come and go, but Mickey is banned from visiting his needy parents in India. It doesn't make sense

We are a country of people who live across borders and across seas. The trauma of families separated by COVID-19 demonstrates the urgent need to make provision for that, writes Virgina Trioli.

www.abc.net.au

That someone who needs to go back to his country of origin to care for his ill parents has had an application to leave denied is really shocking, particularly as he seems to be a straightforward case as he is planning on being away at least three months. I do hope he made that clear in his application....

I'm sad that I can't go back to the UK, but at least my parents are reasonably healthy and now fully vaccinated. I can't imagine how poor Mickey must be feeling. Hopefully someone in authority will make this right (though probably not).

 

[Pushka]

It seems from numerous FB groups that the trick is to keep applying even sometimes without providing additional documents simply because the requests are reviewed by different people. Of course if the refusal states that extra documents are needed then those should be provided.

 

[Seat0B]

That someone who needs to go back to his country of origin to care for his ill parents has had an application to leave denied is really shocking, particularly as he seems to be a straightforward case as he is planning on being away at least three months. I do hope he made that clear in his application....

I'm sad that I can't go back to the UK, but at least my parents are reasonably healthy and now fully vaccinated. I can't imagine how poor Mickey must be feeling. Hopefully someone in authority will make this right (though probably not).

Yes, I agree @louie-m. I'm really keen to visit my son who lives in the UAE or have him come home to see us for all sorts of reasons, but at least that reason is not because of terminal illness. It's really shocking to me as well. Also, there are now reports of people who were previously (in April) granted permission to attend to terminally ill parent who has now died, and they are stuck in India indefinitely and cannot get home.

Australia’s ban on travellers returning from India due to Covid crisis may be unlawful

Lawyers and academics say ban an ‘extraordinary precedent’ that could be open to multiple challenges

www.theguardian.com

I can;t help thinking that Australian citizens should always be allowed home no matter how pox-ridden, criminal or awful they may be- they are our citizens and our problem to deal with. Yes, even in a pandemic. No matter what. And these people being reported on now have not doen anything wrong and are not in any way to blame for their situations. The threat to jail and fine Australians for returning home is just profoundly wrong. We have taken the wrong fork in this road.

 

[Jacques Vert]

The news about jailing aussies returning from India has hit the news here and honestly non aussies are HORRIFIED by it.

As are many of us Aussies here in Aus. Absolutely disgraceful! Slowmo has lost the plot.

He's had 13 months to arrange sufficient quarantine capacity to allow anyone who wants to return to do so. Instead, he has sat on his hands and done SFA. This "jail time" announcement is just another marketing exercise to cover over his Govt's incompetent handling of the quarantine arrangements.

Rather than banning Aussies from coming home, he should be arranging rescue flights and appropriate quarantine facilities.

 

[DC3]

But who in the Government is listening, let alone cares?

 

[louie-m]

Eat next to someone at a restaurant that is found to have covid .... "please stay at home, and get tested" (ie. go out but we trust you)

Sit at the far end of a plane from people "go into this small room and we will lock you in for 14 days"

either you need to quarantine everyone associated with every outbreak, or you need to trust people to do home quarantine. Plane or restaurant shouldnt be treated differently.

Looks like in the UK, even home quarantine for covid contacts may soon be abolished - Covid: Quarantine for Covid contacts could be scrapped

 

[Flashback]

It still requires rapid testing every day for 7 days, though. Each day the test comes back negative, you can head out and about.

Obviously our risk appetite is greater given the high % of jabbed people.

 

[oznflfan]

Looks like in the UK, even home quarantine for covid contacts may soon be abolished - Covid: Quarantine for Covid contacts could be scrapped

If that is proven successful in UK, maybe early 2022 this could be option for returning Australian fully vaccinated leisure travellers instead of home quarantine. Hotel quarantine of course will be reserved for unvaccinated travellers or incoming visitors/immigrants from COVID hotspot countries. I could live with that.

 

[dajop]

He's had 13 months to arrange sufficient quarantine capacity to allow anyone who wants to return to do so. Instead, he has sat on his hands and done SFA. This "jail time" announcement is just another marketing exercise to cover over his Govt's incompetent handling of the quarantine arrangements.

Come on now. It’s all the states faults. Particularly WA, Qld and Vic. It’s those states that should be doing more not the federal government. It’s done a stellar job (at pushing responsibility for everything onto the states).

 

[hb13]

As are many of us Aussies here in Aus. Absolutely disgraceful! Slowmo has lost the plot.

He's had 13 months to arrange sufficient quarantine capacity to allow anyone who wants to return to do so. Instead, he has sat on his hands and done SFA. This "jail time" announcement is just another marketing exercise to cover over his Govt's incompetent handling of the quarantine arrangements.

Rather than banning Aussies from coming home, he should be arranging rescue flights and appropriate quarantine facilities.

It's absolutely horrific. Actually when I heard about the Indian ban, I just thought "yeh, that's about par for the course from the Aussie government - nothing new". But as @roogirl said, here in the UK, there is almost uproar and its made major headlines even in Europe where I had friends asking me about this.

The thing is however, are any of us really surprised? International standards mean nothing to the Australian government, or the state premiers. If you are in Australia, you are fine, if you are outside of Australia, it's pretty much as if you don't exist.

The Aussie government and state premiers apart from NSW should be ashamed of themselves. But nothing will change.

 

[hb13]

Living within our current quarantine capabilities and whether or not people 'care' are not mutually exclusive.

The Guardian's poll in February showed that while 70% of Australians supported international border closures, the same number supported the borders opening once the vaccine roll out had been completed.

So you're actually saying that the current quarantine capabilities allow for an influx of 1200 extra people for a 2-week tennis tournament and rich celebrities, but not for stranded Australians?

Do you support Australians being stranded overseas while Zac Efron's brother enters the country? While tennis players don't have to follow the rules?

 

[Pushka]

So you're actually saying that the current quarantine capabilities allow for an influx of 1200 extra people for a 2-week tennis tournament and rich celebrities, but not for stranded Australians?

Do you support Australians being stranded overseas while Zac Efron's brother enters the country? While tennis players don't have to follow the rules?

And 2000 olympians in July.