Authorities are trying to contact 3800 passengers after three people on a cruise ship that docked in Sydney on Thursday have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Ruby Princess ship, operated by Princess Cruises, docked in Sydney on Thursday with 2700 passengers and 1100 crew on board following a cruise to New Zealand, according to 7 News.
Since departing the ship, 13 passengers have been tested for COVID-19, with at least three positive cases (including one crew member). Additionally, a passenger in Tasmania has been severely unwell and is likely to also have the virus.
“Two of the three positive results were people who were passengers on board the ship,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Friday.
“One of those passengers was not at all well, and was taken off the ship and has been taken to a hospital here in Sydney, and is being cared for. That particular passenger, now patient, is not particularly well.”
Throughout the press conference, Hazzard asserted that other people on board the ship could be at a high risk of having the virus. All passengers are now required to self-isolate for 14 days to avoid further spreading the virus.
The crew member in question is yet to depart the ship, in an effort to minimise the spread of the virus.
Unfortunately, by the time the tests results were processed, all passengers had disembarked from the ship.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant defended the decision to allow passengers to disembark, citing the ship’s “low-risk” status as the reason for the decision.
“We have a risk assessment process for the ship,” she said. “This was considered a low-risk ship, given it’s transported between Sydney and New Zealand.”
It is unclear how many of the passengers on board have been contacted yet, but Brad Hazzard has urged the public to contact friends and family who were on the ship to inform them of the news as quickly as possible.
“There may be other passengers on board that ship who could have had the COVID virus,” he said on Friday.
“But getting to nearly 2,700 people is a bit of a journey, and we have people doing that at the present time. And some people haven’t responded, so clear message: I’m asking the media to get that message out to the community.”
“And to the community: If you know somebody who came in yesterday from the Ruby Princess, do our community a very big favour and have a chat and make sure that they are given this clear message: put yourself in a self-isolation.”
