Defence Force is called in to help New South Wales officials track down infected passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship
- The Australian Defence Force is providing assistance to NSW Health Department
- ‘Contact Tracing Teams’ have been set up to help find possible infected people
- This comes after thousands were allowed to get off cruise ship without testing
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The Defence Force will help New South Wales health officials track down infected passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
The drastic move comes after authorities allowed thousands of passengers to disembark the infected ship last week.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said ‘Contract Tracing Support Teams’ are being set up across Australia.
Their role is to help NSW Health find people who may have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 patient.
The Defence Force will help New South Wales health officials track down infected passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship
‘A team of ADF personnel (has been) supporting NSW Health from yesterday,’ she said.
Twenty-seven passengers from NSW have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 21 guests from other states also tested positive.
Concerns regarding cruise ships arose when the Diamond Princess was quarantined off the coast of Japan in February following an outbreak of COVID-19 on board.
Over 700 passengers of the 3,700 people on board quickly developed coronavirus.
The ship was forced to stay at sea for close to three weeks before the decision was made to quarantine people onshore.
Last week the government suspended all cruise ships – however some, such as the Ruby Princess, have only just completed their trips.
Ms Reynolds said there are also teams in Queensland, Western Australian and the Northern Territory helping deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
‘These ADF teams will provide logistics, transport, health and general planning assistance as the workload of civilian medical teams continues to increase as more Australians are diagnosed with, or affected by, COVID-19,’ Minister Reynolds said.
Their role is to help NSW Health find people who may have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 patient (stock)
‘Defence continues to follow the advice of Australian health authorities when prioritising its support arrangements.
‘We will continue to ensure Defence medical facilities are appropriately staffed to minimise any impact on our public health system.’
Other duties of the ADF teams amid coronavirus have included taking supplies to quarantine zones such as Christmas Island and assisting the Department of Health.
The announcement comes as the Western Australian government try to stop a cruise ship with hundreds of unwell passengers docking in Fremantle.
Premier Mark McGowan said more than 250 of 1,700-plus passengers on board the Magnifica cruise ship had reported upper respiratory illnesses but he’d been told the vessel needed to refuel, which had to be allowed.
That may happen in Fremantle ‘or elsewhere’.
Mr McGowan said he had spoken with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton about a course of action.
‘I will not allow what happened in Sydney to happen here,’ Mr McGowan told reporters on Monday.