Scott Morrison backs Australia's hotel quarantine system as calls for 'overhaul' renewed

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has commended Australia's hotel quarantine system as pressure mounts on the Federal Government to overhaul the program.

Mr Morrison said Australia's hotel quarantine program had a 99.99 per cent success rate.

He said "no one in this country" would have believed that claim if he'd made it a year ago.

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"That is what the hotel quarantine system has achieved," he said.

"I think there's not a country in the world that would not want a quarantine system working as well as that. But it is not 100 per cent foolproof."

The government today halted all flights from India, with several positive COVID-19 cases cropping up in returned travellers from the virus embattled nation.

Mr Morrison said flights will be suspended immediately until at least May 15 to prevent transmission crossing borders.

Repatriation flights for Australians still in India are being organised.

The mounting scrutiny on the hotel quarantine program comes as coronavirus continues to seep out of state systems.

Western Australia became the latest state to fall victim to a COVID-19 leakage within its hotel system, prompting a three-day lockdown amid fears the virus had spread into the community.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has renewed calls for the Federal Government to support the construction of purpose-built quarantine facilities in regional locations outside of major cities.

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It comes as the Howard Springs open-air facility in Darwin has been one of the only quarantine systems in Australia to prevent the virus from escaping.

"I've been talking about this for months," she told Today.

"I think it's absolutely vital that we set up these quarantine facilities. It minimises the risk, and we've got to stop talking about it and we've got to do it.

"We've got to have some action. So I'm calling on the Federal Government, once again, to listen to the health advice."

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If action had been taken sooner, Queensland's proposed campsite-like facility in Toowoomba could have been "built by now," Ms Palaszczuk added.

"It would be right next to the airport and all we need from the Federal Government is a very simple answer - yes or no."

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan proposed for a major quarantine facility to be set up off the mainland of Australia, on Christmas Island.

READ MORE: WA lockdown over but masks and other restrictions remain

It comes as the Victorian Government is set to announce the successful bidder soon for the location of its new quarantine hub.

It is believed Avalon Airport is no longer the preferred site for the purpose-built facility, with a youth prison reportedly leading the charge at Cherry Creek, in the city's west.

The youth prison, near Werribee, is being built by the government and is about 20 minutes drive from Avalon Airport, meaning flights could still land there.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and a number of leading epidemiologists have backed the idea of remote quarantine facilities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 leaking into the community.

Dr Andrew Miller from the AMA said the conversation about how to control the airborne spread of COVID-19 needed to change.

"We see how it got out in the hotel and in that restaurant, how easily it spread to just a sliding door's moment, someone going past someone else, getting their take away, having a quick meal, that's how easily it is spreading around communities," he said.

Dr Miller said Australia needed to revamp its quarantine system if it wanted to host significant international events in the future, such as the 2032 Olympics.

"We're talking about bringing in workers, that sort of thing at the moment, if we're going to have a whole lot of people coming in here, we have got to fix not just quarantine, but also our air spaces everywhere."

Epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws echoed his calls, insisting Australia's hotel system needed an "overhaul".

The professor also suggested rapid antigen testing for those exiting quarantine, in order to protect Australia from inadvertent COVID-19 leaks into the community.

"The medical advisory panel needs to really sit up and send a very strong message to all the states and territories that now there really needs to be a national approach," she said.