Passengers arriving into Sydney on cruise ships will be screened for coronavirus before being allowed to disembark at the Harbour City.
Health authorities will conduct risk assessments before each ship arrives to prevent the spread of the disease from cruising passengers.
Testing will get underway on Sunday with the arrival of passengers into Sydney from a cruise ship travelling from New Zealand.
New South Wales Health insists it is a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Health authorities say the testing of passengers will be a ‘safeguard’ and doesn’t reflect any concern around potential outbreaks aboard the docking vessel.
Passengers arriving into Sydney on cruise ships will be screened for coronavirus before exploring the city, after more than 200 people contracted disease on liner quarantined off Japan (pictured)
Health authorities will conduct risk assessments before each ship arrives to prevent the spread of the disease from cruising passengers (Pictured: virus-stricken liner near Japan)
‘No outbreak of COVID-19 has been identified by doctors on board the vessel that set sail from Auckland and travelled around New Zealand to Australia however, as a safeguard, any unwell passengers will be assessed by health teams here,’ New South Wales Health said.
The testing process will be similar to the assessments being done for passengers arriving at Sydney airport.
New South Wales Health said thousands of passengers, including the elderly, are often on cruise ships and they often require medical management for unrelated infectious diseases while on the cruise or when they disembark.
The announcement comes after a passenger aboard the Norwegian Jewel was tested and cleared of coronavirus on Friday.
The ship’s owner slammed ‘false and inflammatory’ media reports which suggested someone on board could have contracted the disease.
The announcement comes after a passenger aboard the Norwegian Jewel (pictured) was tested and cleared of coronavirus on Friday
The ship, which arrived in Sydney on Friday and was scheduled to depart on Saturday for a 14-day cruise of Australia and New Zealand, was never locked down.
New South Wales health confirmed the female in her 50s was being tested as precaution.
At the time reports emerged the passenger had been suffering after from respiratory illness but the cruise company said a few passengers had been suffering from stomach related illnesses.
A spokeswoman for the cruise company said they had ‘stringent sanitation procedures’ to mitigate any impact of this rare occurrence.’
‘As such a thorough inspection and rigorous cleaning and disinfection of the ship and terminal were conducted.’
Australia currently has 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus while 11 Australians are among 65 newly-confirmed cases aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama in Japan.
A woman wearing a face mask seen near the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday
A member of crew cleaning a hand rail on board the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship which is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday
An Australian tourist on board Diamond Princess, Bianca D’Silva, called the ship a ‘floating prison’.
She was separated from her family and placed into quarantine after contracting the virus.
Ms D’Silva said she started feeling ill while all passengers were cooped up in their cabins for a week during the outbreak.
‘I got a lot of headaches initially, when I was told we were quarantined, I started feeling hot with a fever,’ she said.
‘But other than that I feel fine … it just feels like I have a cold.’
The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.
The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.
Paramedics were called to the international passenger terminal at Circular Quay shortly before 7.30am on Friday as the ship, the Norwegian Jewel docked
Saturday will mark two weeks since Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a temporary 14 day ban on foreign travellers who have left or passed through mainland China from arriving on our shores.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned the travel ban will likely be extended as the worldwide death toll surges towards 1000.
Mr Hunt added the government acted on the best medical advice to implement the ban.
‘Ultimately, our job … our responsibility, is to provide protection and national health security for the Australian people,’ he said.
‘They’ve been difficult decisions but made on the basis of the medical advice and we’ll implement the medical advice.’
The Government admits the ban has taken a toll on the tourism industry, which is losing an estimated $1billion a week.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health and Norwegian Cruise Line for comment.