India COVID: Michael Slater slams PM, Pat Cummins and Ben Cutting in isolation

As Pat Cummins and Ben Cutting wait out a COVID scare in India, the Prime Minister has responded to a scathing rebuke from cricket legend Michael Slater.

The Prime Minister has responded to a scathing rebuke from cricket legend Michael Slater who said Scott Morrison had “blood on his hands” after banning flights from India.

Slater, who had been commentating on the IPL but left India at the weekend for the Maldives, last night unleashed on Mr Morrison in a series of social media posts.

“It’s a disgrace! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this,’’ he tweeted.

“If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It’s a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect,” he tweeted.

“And for those who think this is a money exercise. Well forget it. This is what I do for a living and I have not made a penny having left early. So please stop the abuse and think of the thousands dying in India each day. It’s called empathy. If only our government had some!”

Mr Morrison responded to the remarks on Tuesday morning, denying he was responsible for the deaths of Australians.

Michael Slater. Picture: Cameron Spencer

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday.

When asked on Nine if he had “blood on his hands,” Mr Morrison replied: “No, obviously that is absurd.”

It comes as Australian cricketers Pat Cummins and Ben Cutting are placed in isolation in India after possibly being exposed to COVID-19 by an IPL teammate who tested positive to the virus.

The Indian Premier League’s worst fears were realised when Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers Varun Chakravarty and Sandeep Warrier tested positive on Sunday.

The franchise is testing the other squad members daily, while there are also unconfirmed reports players at the Chennai Super Kings have also tested positive.

On the phone to The Daily Telegraph from his Ahmedabad hotel room last night, Cutting said he has had three coronavirus tests in the past 24 hours.

He had just wrapped up a Zoom call with the team owners and his teammates but said his biggest concern was for the people of India.

Ben Cutting. Picture: Instagram

Ben Cutting in his Ahmedabad hotel room.

Varun Chakravarthy. Picture: Instagram

“Looking out the window now, it looks like normal India but with 10 per cent of the people you’d normally see out there,” he said.

“India has almost been a second home for me. This is my eighth IPL. It is extremely sad to see the people of India we have come to love grapple with the outbreak of COVID.”

Cutting said he had had the first of two of China’s Sinopharm vaccinations in Pakistan before travelling to India.

“You are always worried about getting it,” he said.

“But we are staying as safe as we can within the bubble. That has been highly effective until now, where we haven’t had any cases until today.”

Erin Holland with Ben Cutting.

While 36 Australian cricketers, including Steve Smith, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell remain in India, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson fled the country and defied the Australian travel ban by returning home last week via Doha.

The federal government has since closed that loophole and imposed harsh penalties, including potential five-year jail terms and $66,000 fines, for anyone entering Australia from India before May 15.

Cracks appeared to emerge yesterday between the government and chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly over his advice on imposing the ban. While Prof Kelly denied advising about jail terms and fines, a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph revealed he had advised the penalties be put in place.

Prime Minster Scott Morrison told 2GB he had “clear advice” from Prof Kelly about jail sentences and fines but the professor later denied it at a morning press conference.

“I didn’t advise anything in relation to fines or any of those other matters,” he said.

But the letter written to Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday evening revealed Prof Kelly had advised the penalties be put in place.

David Warner’s wife Candice on Monday. Picture: Backgrid

Steve Smith’s wife Dani Willis on Monday. Picture: Media Mode

In the letter, the CMO recommended a “pause” on arrivals from India and advocated for Australia’s Biosecurity Act to be used, meaning a jail sentence and cash penalties for Indian arrivals.

The letter states Mr Hunt could enforce the Act and “the penalty for breaching a section 477 determination is 5 years jail or 300 penalty units ($66,600) or both”.

Mr Hunt also said a spike in travellers from India testing positive to COVID-19 was behind the decision to impose the ban and possible jail time.

He said more than 13 per cent of passengers arriving from India on April 15 and 17 had tested positive, which was “almost seven times … the safe carrying capacity of our (quarantine) hotels”.

In his advice, Prof Kelly said almost two per cent of Australians returning from overseas are testing positive to COVID-19. More than half of the overseas-acquired cases since mid-April have come from India, he said.

Professor Paul Kelly said almost two per cent of Australians returning from overseas are testing positive to COVID-19. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Despite advising a travel ban was necessary, Prof Kelly said Australian citizens and permanent residents stuck in India may suffer “serious illness without access to health care” or be “stranded in a transit country” due to the temporary ban on arrivals. Deaths may occur “in a worst-case scenario”.

The advice was released after Deputy Nationals Leader Matt Canavan criticised the ban, declaring the government should be “helping Aussies in India return not jailing them”.

“Let’s fix our quarantine system rather than leave our fellow Australians stranded,” he tweeted yesterday.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese accused the government of leaving Australians in India “stranded”.

“Australian citizenship does matter. There are rights attached to being an Australian citizen and the Australian Government has obligations to fulfil those rights,” he said.

But Mr Hunt said the ban was “temporary” and “due to expire”. The Health Minister said it is the government’s “strong, clear, absolute belief” that the ban is legal.

The partners of Steve Smith and David Warner — Dani Willis and Candice Warner — were photographed in Sydney yesterday, while Cutting’s wife, Channel 7 presenter Erin Holland, said a “desperate’’ India needed our help.

Originally published as India COVID: Michael Slater slams PM, Pat Cummins and Ben Cutting in isolation