Canberra, Aug 23 : Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that his government will continue supporting citizens stranded overseas as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Addressing the media, Morrison revealed that he has asked Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to come up with options to help Australians who can’t get home, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We acknowledge that some of them are in some difficult circumstances,” he said.
“Our consular teams are doing a great job to help them in those circumstances and we’ll be doing more to help them in those circumstances and to assist them to get home within those caps.”
Morrison’s comments came after he ruled out lifting Australia’s cap on international arrivals, which is currently set at 4,000 per week.
Close to 19,000 Australian residents overseas have told embassies that they want to return to the country.
As of Saturday, Australia had confirmed 24,602 coronavirus cases.
The number of new cases in the last 24 hours increased by 200.
The death toll has risen from 472 to 485, with all 13 new deaths in Victoria, the worst-hit state.
Victoria confirmed 182 new cases of the virus on Saturday, while New South Wales reported another nine cases as did Queensland.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.