Chinese students can apply for coronavirus travel ban exemption
More than 700 Chinese high school students stuck in China due to the coronavirus travel ban will be able to apply for an exemption to re-enter Australia if they meet 13 strict conditions.
NSW
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More than 700 high school students in year 11 and 12, banned from entering Australia due to the coronavirus, will be allowed in if they meet strict conditions.
Under new rules, senior high school students and their guardians will be able to apply for an exemption if they are quarantined and show no sign of illness for 14 days.
The eligible students will also have to prove they are already enrolled at an Australian high school and haven’t visited the Hubei province — the epicentre of the coronavirus — since the outbreak began.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said coronavirus or COVID-19 had been contained in Australia and the medical recommendation to the government was to allow case-by-case exemptions.
“In particular, that should include consideration of year 11 and 12 secondary school students from mainland China, excluding Hubei,” he said.
The government estimated there are about 400 Year 12 students and 360 Year 11 students wanting to return to Australia to study.
To meet the 13 criteria, state and territory government will also have to approve the evacuation of the high school students and the Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner will rubber stamp the decision.
Successful students will be screened for symptoms by the Department of Agriculture when they arrive at the border.
If a student or guardian breaches quarantine arrangements, their visa may be cancelled.
The minor exemption comes just days after the Morrison government extended its ban on international arrivals who have visited China for a fourth week due to the coronavirus crisis.
The government is under increasing pressure to allow an estimated 65,800 international visa-holding students from China back into Australia as the university sector braces for an economic hit.
Education Minister Dan Tehan said the government will consider expanding the exemption to thousands of university students stuck in China, subject to a review next week.
“It is incredibly important that we get some normality back to the international student market,” he said.
“At this stage we are looking at year 11 and 12 students but the medical advice has said in a week we could look at what would happen with tertiary education students.”
According to the latest figures there are 77,617 cases of coronavirus globally and 2356 patients have died.
Today, 266 Australians who were evacuated from China, will be released from the Howard Springs quarantine camp in Darwin. Mr Hunt said there has been no cases of coronavirus confirmed in the group.
But six Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive — one each from West Australia and South Australia and two from both Victoria and Queensland.
“All are well and in a stable condition but they have been diagnosed and therefore they’ve been put into an isolation and containment process before being medevaced to their hospitals,” Mr Hunt said.