Australia to resume repatriation flights with India from May 15

Cabinet's National Security Committee has signed off on a plan to begin repatriating Australians stranded in India once the temporary ban is lifted next week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce the details on Friday, in what will come as a relief to the estimated 9,000 Australians stuck in the COVID-ravaged country.

It is understood the first repatriation flight will leave Australia for India almost as soon as the ban is lifted on May 15 and will have the capacity to bring home around 200 passengers.

All Australians returning from India will quarantine outside Darwin at the Howard Springs facility, which is expected to be nearly empty by next Saturday.

Around 900 Australians who have been listed as "vulnerable" by the Department of Foreign Affairs will be given priority. But they will need to return two negative COVID-19 tests before they are allowed to fly.

Before the government imposed the travel ban, it had been chartering two flights to India each week to bring Australians home. The new agencies has been told there would be a maximum of one repatriation flight per week once travel resumes.

It is unclear whether commercial flights will also be able to restart, with one government source saying it would be a slow and steady process.

The government has come under sustained pressure for not only banning anyone in India from flying to Australia but making it a criminal offence to do so, punishable by hefty fines and imprisonment.

Earlier on Thursday, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke warned the repatriation process was "very complex" and would "take some time".

"This second wave is very bad, the logistics in India are very difficult, people are living in remote towns and villages and to get them safely to an airport is a very difficult undertaking," he said.

"These are the real, practical consequences. There are thousands of people, many dying on the streets in India. So it's going to be very complex."

After Covid carnage, Britain to reopen travel to limited countries

 Britain will allow international travel to resume from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad, but nearly all major destinations were left off its list of countries open for quarantine-free holidays.

Just 12 countries and territories made the so-called "green list". They include Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Faroe Islands.

The top four destinations - Spain, France, Italy and the United States - were among those left off, angering stricken airlines and holiday companies battling for survival. Those four sit in the amber category, requiring self-isolation for those returning to the UK.

Turkey, another big holiday destination, was added to a red list. Thatrequires travellers to spend 10 days in managed hotel quarantineon their return, which they must pay for themselves.

While a legal ban on all non-essential international travel will be lifted for the first time since January, the government said people should still avoid travelling to countries on the amber or red lists for leisure.

"Today marks the first step in our cautious return to international travel, with measures designed above all else to protect public health and ensure we don’t throw away the hard-fought gains we’ve all strived to earn this year," transport minister Grant Shapps said.

Airlines, holiday companies and tourist hotspots in southern Europe have been waiting for big-spending Britons to start travelling again, but they will have to wait a few months longer for a full rebound to take off.

With Portugal as the first major Mediterranean holiday destination to make the green list, Thomas Cook and Club Med said bookings there were already up 250% on last Friday. TUI said it had added more flights to Portugal.

The list will be reviewed every three weeks. It applies only to people from England for now, but devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to accept it too.

Those travelling to countries on the green list will have to take two COVID-19 tests, one before arrival back into the UK and one within two days of returning.

'EXCESS OF CAUTION'

Trade bodies for pilots and airlines, airports and holiday groups said Britain was being excessively cautious and such a limited reopening would continue to drag on an industry that had taken great strides to manage safe travel.

Experts have also said prices could shoot up for bookings to the few places on the green list. Shapps said airports could also see longer delays as COVID-19 test results must be checked.

Many destination countries also have their own requirements, with many still effectively closed.

"This excess of caution from the government is extremely disappointing for everyone who works in the travel sector," Brian Strutton of the British Airline Pilots Association said.

The travel industry had argued that Britain's rapid vaccination programme should enable it to open up more quickly. But the government has prioritised efforts to prevent coronavirus variants from entering the country.

Heathrow Airport, the country's biggest, and British Airways (ICAG.L) both urged the government to add more countries to the green list when it next reviews travel in early June, and to let those who have been fully vaccinated travel without restrictions.

"The government should help people plan ahead by publishing a list of countries expected to be on the green list for the summer holidays so that passengers are not faced with high prices for last-minute bookings," Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said.

Before the announcement, the head of British Airways-owner IAG had also called on the UK and the United States to open a travel corridor, given their high vaccination rates.

Egypt to conduct rapid tests for arrivals from countries with coronavirus variants

Egypt will conduct a rapid coronavirus test for visitors from countries where coronavirus variants emerged upon their arrival in the country, the health ministry said.

Health Minister Hala Zayed in a video conference on Friday said the rapid molecular test, known as ID NOW, only takes 15 minutes to detect coronavirus infection.

Egyptians and non-Egyptians coming from the countries with coronavirus variants are required to undergo the test, and they will also be subject to medical examination, Zayed pointed out.

A PCR test results are also required, which the visitors have to submit before entering the country, she added.

However, the minister did not specify the countries the decision applies to.

The move comes as many countries are currently facing a new variant of coronavirus, which was first detected in India and is scientifically thought to be more transmissible.

India has been recently hit by one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks.

Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, Egypt’s deputy health minister for preventive medicine, earlier this month said the Indian variant, dubbed B.1.617, extended to 17 countries, including Iraq and Jordan.

Africa’s Kenya, Uganda and South Africa all detected this strain coming from India.

Zayed during the video conference said Egypt has not recorded new coronavirus variants thanks to the preventive measures it has taken at its entry ports immediately after the warnings by the World Health Organization.

She noted that a total of more than 5.4 million visitors coming from abroad have been examined at various Egyptian ports since the start of the pandemic.

The country is currently suffering from a third coronavirus wave and the new daily infection toll has topped 1,000 every day since 27 April for the first time since 9 January.

Egypt has so far vaccinated around 1 million citizens, according to official statements.

A surge in coronavirus cases over the past month has forced the government to take tougher precautionary measures, especially ahead and during the feast of Eid Al-Fitr, which is expected to start on Thursday.

The new measures, taking place from 6 to 21 May, include the closure at 9 pm of shops, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, and movie theatres. However, restaurants will be allowed to make home deliveries past 9pm.