‘It beggars belief’: Passengers on board the Ruby Princess said they were rushed off the ship by NSW authorities and allowed to fly to Adelaide despite four coronavirus cases on board
- Passengers outraged at being rushed off ship without being told of virus testing
- Disembarked ‘very quickly’ and left to fly home to Adelaide without testing
- Told by text message on Friday afternoon that passengers had tested positive
- Health Department says there are ‘sufficient stocks’ of tests for ‘current demand’
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Cruise passengers are furious that they were rushed off the coronavirus-stricken ship the Ruby Princess to fly home without being told they could be infected.
Four people tested positive to the deadly virus on the ship which docked in Sydney Harbour on Thursday after a tour of New Zealand.
One infected passenger was taken directly to hospital while another flew home to Tasmania.
The Ruby Princess docked at the cruise ship passenger terminal at Circular Quay on Thursday. Four people onboard tested positive but thousands of passengers disembarked and returned home without being told anyone was being tested
Three passengers said they received text messages at 2pm yesterday to tell them the virus had been present on their ship – long after they had flown home to Adelaide.
Bernie, Kim and Phi told the Today Show they had been rushed off the ship in record time without being told people on board were being tested on suspicion of having the virus.
Left to right: Bernie, Kim and Phil from Adelaide say they are angry to have been rushed off the Ruby Princess to return to their homes without being told anyone onboard was being tested
Coronavirus is highly contagious and cruise ships have proven to be a source of transmission
‘We were, and probably still are, quite incensed that the NSW Health Department let us off the ship if they knew some people had been tested,’ said Kim, who did not give her last name.
‘The fact that we got off the ship, picked up our luggage and pretty much got deposited on the side walk outside of the (passenger) terminal so quickly, it beggars belief.’
Fellow passenger, Bernie, was surprised at how quickly they were disembarked.
‘I was very much surprised that we didn’t appear to be tested.
‘You see everything on the news services about people having their temperatures taken at the very least. It was a breeze straight through. Apart from couple of customs or health officials wearing masks we were pretty much got straight off. Picked up our bags and were deposited on site.’
The friend said there had only been a few coronavirus cases in Australia when they chose to go on the cruise, which left Sydney on March 8.
‘There was no DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) travel advice especially for New Zealand, our neighbour across the ditch. So we just booked it. We just assumed that New Zealand was a safe destination,’ said Phil.
The ship had been carrying close to 2700 passengers and 1100 crew who have now returned to their homes, leaving state and territory health authorities to track them down.
More than 100,000 people have now been tested for coronavirus across Australia, with more than 900 confirmed cases.
The Federal Department of Health told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday that the country has ‘sufficient stocks’ of coronavirus test kits to meet ‘current demands’.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted both DFAT and the NSW Health Department for this story.