Home

Coronavirus crisis: Scott Morrison says Govind Kant’s death in ‘dangerous’ India tragic but defends decision

Daniel McCulloch and staff writersAAP
VideoPrime Minister Scott Morrison is facing mounting pressure to bring stranded Australians home after a Sydney man died from COVID in India

The prime minister has described Australian man Govind Kant’s death from coronavirus in India as a terrible tragedy but said the coronavirus-ravaged country wasn’t safe.

The 47-year-old travelled to India last month to attend a funeral before succumbing to the disease.

The solar industry worker travelled to the South Asian country at the end of April for family reasons but contracted the virus and died two days ago.

He is the second Australian to die of coronavirus in India.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW
A COVID-19 patient on oxygen support outside an Indian hospital.
Camera IconThe death of an Australian man from coronavirus in India was a terrible tragedy, the PM says. Credit: AP

“It’s a dangerous place,” Scott Morrison told Sydney radio 2GB on Wednesday.

“It’s terrible what has happened to this relatively young man and it’s a tragedy when we lose an Australian anywhere, and sadly that happens all around the world when people are in dangerous places.

“So I feel for the family, but it is not a safe place. We are trying to bring people back safely, but equally we’ve got to do it in a way which doesn’t put at risk everything that has been achieved here in Australia.”

Mr Morrison has been accused of abandoning Australians in India after introducing a weeks-long travel ban and threatening anyone who dared to defy the restrictions with massive fines or jail time.

VideoIndia recorded its highest daily COVID death toll in 24 hours

The India travel ban lifted on Saturday and about 70 people have since returned to Australia, but there are still almost 10,000 people desperate to come back.

The prime minister said more than 1000 people had also sought to travel from Australia to India since April 23.

“Now, we haven’t let them go for obvious reasons,” Mr Morrison said.

India is recording about 340,000 new cases each day and registered another record high death count in the last 24 hours of 4329. The total cases has surged past 25 million.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails