Stranded cricketers arrive back home

Australian cricketers unable to return from India for weeks have landed in Sydney — most from the Maldives.

Steve Smith arriving at Sydney Airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Australian cricketers unable for weeks to return from India arrived back home on Monday morning — most from the Maldives.

More than 30 Australian players, coaches and support staff — including Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins — landed in Sydney shortly after 7.30am after travelling on private flights via Perth.

Mike Hussey, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ahmedabad and flew to Chennai for treatment, is also set to return on a commercial flight from Doha.

The plane carrying the 38 cricketers reportedly touched down at Perth on its way from the Maldives, where the group fled after case numbers in India soared.

They will quarantine in hotels but will not be counted as part of limits put in place for the number of arrivals at any one time.

But thousands of Australians remain in limbo in India, despite the lifting of a flight ban, with Qantas reviewing its testing arrangements following concerns passengers who tested negative for the virus were inadvertently diagnosed as positive cases.

Returning travellers from India are required to test negative to two tests administered on consecutive days before being allowed to board flights home.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline was investigating if the diagnostic agency it had contracted was using another local laboratory for the pre-departure tests after several passengers who initially tested positive and were not allowed to board later tested negative to the coronavirus.

“We have reiterated to our diagnostic agency that they must ensure that any laboratory they use has all current and appropriate accreditation,” she said.

CRL, which is being used by Qantas, lost its accreditation with India’s National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories in April.

However, such an accreditation is not mandatory.

Michael Slater. Picture: John Grainger

Pat Cummins. Picture: John Grainger

“An accredited global diagnostic agency is used as part of the repatriation testing process,” the Qantas spokeswoman said. “This agency is used by other airlines, multinational organisations and is also endorsed by the Indian Council of Medical Research.”

However, The Australian understands Qantas did not seek advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs before contracting the company. Sources said they would have recommended using another firm.

The ABC on Sunday reported at least three Australians blocked from returning home on the first repatriation flight from New Delhi to Darwin have since tested negative to the virus.

A DFAT spokeswoman said Qantas had established its testing processes “in good faith” but declined to comment further.

An almost half-empty mercy flight landed in Darwin with just 80 of a possible 150 passengers on board after dozens tested positive or were identified as close contacts of active cases shortly before departing New Delhi.

Melbourne man Sunny Joura, 49, was barred from the repatriation flight due to a positive coronavirus test and is urging the federal government to put him and his 79-year-old mother on the next flight home.

Mr Joura, who has been stuck in India since last May, returned a positive COVID-19 test on Friday as part of the pre-flight departure screening but later returned a negative result from a laboratory he independently sought out.

Cricketers Kane Williamson (L) & David Warner pictured aboard a flight in hazmat attire. Picture: Instagram @davidwarner31

“How much testing can you do? They should have done their due diligence before they selected a lab to do such an important task,” he told The Australian.

Mr Joura and his mother — considered a close contact — are now required to isolate for two weeks before they will be eligible to board a repatriation flight.

DFAT has already said it would prioritise passengers who were unable to board for future repatriation flights from India.

On Sunday, Scott Morrison conceded that some passengers who tested positive “may not have been positive” and said “the testing has got to be up to standard”. But the Prime Minister ­dismissed calls to repatriate coronavirus-positive citizens and residents from India, defending the government’s border stance.

“This sort of testing is required from all places where people are coming into Australia, whether it is the UK or elsewhere,” he said.

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong on Sunday said: “The onus is now on Scott Morrison to ensure the requirements are appropriate and all processes are sound before the next repatriation flight.”

The next government-run repatriation flights are scheduled for Sunday and May 30.