"My presence over there would at least give them a moral boost, even though we would have to maintain social distancing and all the precautions," said Mr Nair.

Mr Nair's parents live in Kerala, a state of some 34 million people on India's southern tip.

His younger brother is in the city of Bengaluru, slightly to the north of Kerala.

"If I could have been there physically it might have been good, but their advice is 'Please don't come here at the moment because it is not safe'," Mr Nair said.

Mr Nair said his parents and brother had been vaccinated with Covishield, the Indian name for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"They are all safe and fine and no issues as of now.

"[But] they are all very frightened, so they're just staying indoors at the moment, trying not to go out."

He said some friends in the 30-45 age bracket had contracted the virus.

"Thankfully they recovered, but one or two are still going through the recovery phase."

Mr Nair and his family usually travel to India to visit family each year, but it was not possible last year, and Mr Nair doubts it will be possible this year.

"I have two boys and we all go as a family, spend most of the Christmas holidays every year; I don't know what will happen next year.

"My kids are missing their grandparents and all of their cousins and relatives, and my wife is missing her family as well.

"I don't want to take any chance, that is what my parents and relatives have been telling us - if you get here you might get stuck or you might be at risk of spreading it back in Australia.

"It's better to wait until we get the green light all over the world."

Petrol station operators Raj and Mounika Basiraju hail from Tirupati in southeast India.

"India did very well with the first wave [of COVID], but not the second wave," Mrs Basiraju said.

She said that the situation had been made worse by large religious gatherings and election rallies.

Mr and Mrs Basiraju's family and friends were safe, but Mrs Basiraju said she had heard of oxygen tanks being sold on the black market for 50,000 rupees, the equivalent of about $900.

According to official figures more than 20 million Indians have contracted the coronavirus, and more than 220,000 have died, although doctors in India say the actual figures are likely much higher.

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