New blow to thousands of Aussies stranded overseas

There has been a fresh blow to the almost 40,000 Australians stranded overseas after Singapore announced it will ban flights from the UK.

Thousands of Australians had been hoping to return home before Christmas, and Singapore has been one of the major transit hubs for Australia-bound travellers.

But Singapore is is joining more than 50 other countries in announcing travel bans on UK flights after a new strain of COVID-19 was detected in the country.

The Australian High Commission in London said it has been inundated with calls from anxious Australians trying to work out what they do from here.

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The travel bans defy the European Union decision that essential flights from the UK should be allowed.

Australia has not changed its rules around international arrivals from the UK.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said Australia would continue to "welcome" overseas arrivals from the UK and while authorities were investigating the new virus strain, it does not yet pose a significant threat to the Australian community.

Tens of thousands of families will be separated this Christmas because of the strict flight caps due to coronavirus.

Despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wanted most of them home by Christmas, a total of 38,000 are now registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to come back.

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But the true figure could be much higher.

Only 7000 people are allowed to fly into the country each week to best manage the number going into mandatory $3000 hotel quarantine.

This has made getting a seat on a plane tough and expensive.