Three people on-board a cruise ship that docked in Sydney on Thursday have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Two passengers and one crew member who were on the Ruby Princess cruise ship returned positive results, and one is in a serious condition.
An additional passenger is also very unwell in Tasmania and likely to have the virus.
Authorities are trying to track down others who were on-board the ship after it docked in the city following a short cruise.
NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant said the ship had been considered ‘low risk’ before the diagnoses.
Four people on-board the Ruby Princess cruise ship have tested positive for the coronavirus (pictured at Circular Quay on Thursday) after it docked in Sydney
The ship had more than 1,100 crew and close to 2,700 passengers, New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard told reporters on Friday afternoon.
Mr Hazzard told those who were on the ship to self-isolate as authorities phone the thousands of passengers person-by-person to ensure they are aware of the infections.
Doctors tested 13 unwell patients for COVID-19, with three found to have the virus.
‘Two of the three positive results were people who were passengers on board the ship,’ NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters 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.’
Mr Hazzard said another passenger had since travelled to Tasmania and was now being cared for in that state’s healthcare system.
He said it was possible that other people on board now had COVID-19 and all people on board now needed to self-isolate for 14 days.
An urgent health warning was also issued for those who were at the Sydney Church of Christ Ryde Civic Centre service on 8 March.
Four people who attended the service have been diagnosed with Covid-19.
It comes as another 75 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the state – bringing the state’s total to 382.
The cruise liner had been considered ‘low risk’ after a short cruise from Australia to New Zealand
The ship is pictured departing Sydney Harbour with no crew or passengers on Thursday
Passengers are pictured disembarking from the Ruby Princess at Circular Quay on Thursday
‘It’s obviously quite a substantial increase and, again, it’s indicative of the growing issue that faces the entire world,’ Mr Hazzard told reporters in Sydney.
Earlier on Friday, it was announced an 81-year-old NSW woman had died after contracting coronavirus bringing the state’s death toll to six and seven across Australia.
The woman died on Thursday night after close contact with a confirmed case linked to Ryde Hospital.
It comes as another 75 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the state – bringing the state’s total to 382 and the national tally to 833 infections
An 86-year-old man previously confirmed to have COVID-19 died in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday night.
Another resident of BaptistCare’s Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park – a 73-year-old woman – has also come down with COVID-19.
Three of the facility’s residents have died to date after contracting coronavirus.
NSW Health has said six people are in intensive care in NSW.
A school on the NSW mid-north coast, meanwhile, has closed after a member of the school community tested positive for the virus.
St Columba Anglican School in Port Macquarie received the news on Thursday afternoon and will close on Friday.
The NSW chief health officer, meanwhile, is reassured that many of the state’s coronavirus cases remain mild in nature.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the initial precautionary approach of hospitalising all confirmed COVID-19 cases had been abandoned as cases rise.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian again implored people to adhere to social distancing measures in order to limit the speed of the virus’ spread.
More than 40,000 people have been tested for COVID-19.
‘What we want to make sure is if we control the spread and keep the numbers very low as to who is actually needing to go into intensive care – and at the moment it’s only a handful of people who are in hospital because of this illness – that’s where we want to keep it,’ Ms Berejiklian told the Nine Network on Friday.
‘We are not on top of it and nobody is, but we are still at a stage where we’re managing it and we don’t want to lose control and that’s why it’s important to socially distance.’