New rules for travellers flying to Australia

New rules for international travellers flying into Australia have been revealed, amid a push to keep out the UK’s mutant virus strain.

All international travellers coming to Australia would be forced to have pre-flight tests and wear masks while flying, under sweeping recommendations to be made by health chiefs.

Travellers who return a positive result to the test — no more than 72 hours before departure — would not be permitted to fly, with airlines also required to screen flight crews weekly.

UK arrivals would undergo rapid testing once they touch down to detect its coronavirus mutant strain. Those carrying the bug would face quarantining for more than 14 days.

The proposals will be formally submitted after the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meets today, with an emergency National Cabinet meeting set for tomorrow and the Morrison government expected to announce measures imminently.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed the Victoria had called for stronger action against the threat of the British super virus, 50 per cent more infectious than the strain that caused our second wave.

The killer strain has forced England to move to its third total lockdown, with more than 50,000 new cases recorded a day.

Scott Morrison said a special meeting would be held on Friday after a week of expert medical panel meetings.

Returning travellers to Australia may soon have to face a list of new requirements before landing Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

“The meeting is to consider a proposal that I requested through our Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, from our national expert medical panel, the AHPPC,” the Prime Minister said. “The proposal is to further strengthen the COVID safety of end-to-end international travel processes, from arrival at airport of embarkation in the exit country to final clearance from hotel quarantine in Australia.”

Mr Morrison said the AHPPC had been focused on how to deal with the UK strain.

The national vaccine strategy will also be discussed at the Friday meeting.

A spokesman for Prof Kelly said the Australian government was monitoring the situation in the UK closely.

Travellers coming to Australia from the UK are generally returning Australians.

“Combined with other measures including high testing rates, social distancing and strong localised response, mandatory hotel quarantine has resulted in relatively low numbers of cases in Australia compared to the rest of the world,” he said.

More than 40 countries have banned travel from the UK. England began its third national lockdown on Tuesday as alarm grew in Britain over the latest surge in cases, which is threatening to overwhelm its hospitals.