Authorities refuse to allow ANOTHER Covid-hit cruise ship from disembarking because there’s more than 100 infected passengers – despite 40,000 cases across Australia
- Another luxury cruise ship hit by Covid outbreak docked in Sydney on Monday
- P&O Pacific Explorer returned from its nine-day round trip to Queensland
- About 2,800 crew and passengers were on board with 100 testing positive
Another cruise ship hit with a Covid outbreak has docked in Sydney with more than 100 passengers testing positive to the virus.
The P&O Pacific Explorer ended its nine-day round trip to Queensland as it made its way into Sydney Harbour at 5.30am on Monday.
About 2,800 crew and passengers were onboard the ship with holidaymakers required to return a negative Covid test before they can freely disembark.
The strict measure comes despite as many as 40,000 Covid cases being recorded across the country each day.
It is the second Covid-infected cruise ship to dock in Sydney in a week after the Coral Princess brought back more than 125 infected people on Wednesday.
The P&O Pacific Explorer ended its nine-day round trip to Queensland as it made its way into Sydney Harbour at 5.30am on Monday (pictured, stock image)
Passengers infected on the latest cruise were forced to isolate in their rooms for the duration of the trip.
Holidaymakers who live in Sydney will be allowed to return to their homes to isolate.
Travellers who came from interstate will be put up in a hotel room at the expense of P&O.
NSW Health said the passengers would not be supervised as it was not considered to be hotel quarantine.
Sharon Zahabi and her family were among the passengers who were in isolation.
‘Every time you go into any of those marquees or theatre rooms or in to eat you have to have your mask on … I mean they’re cleaning all the time, sanitising,’ she told Nine News.
She said the outbreak would not discourage her from making future trips.
‘We booked knowing that there’s a chance that we could catch Covid and we still came and we will still cruise again as well,’ she said.
P&O will provide a refund to passengers who were forced into isolation during the trip.
Passengers disembarking from the Coral Princess last week claimed staff allowed them to leave without checking their Covid test results.
About 2,800 crew and passengers were onboard the ship with holidaymakers required to return a negative Covid test before they can freely disembark
It is the second covid-infected cruise ship to dock in Sydney in a week after the Coral Princess (pictured) brought back more than 125 infected people on Wednesday
NSW Health previously said passengers would only be allowed to disembark after they had returned a negative rapid antigen test.
However, two of those getting off the cruise ship – who were identified only as Julia and John – told SkyNews that their test had not been checked.
‘We just walked off,’ John said.
Julie also was less than impressed with what she’d witnessed in the ship’s food and beverage areas.
‘So you wash your hands when you go into the buffet but then people are coughing and picking up tongs and things like that,’ she said, imitating someone coughing into their hands.’
She also said that while all the staff had been wearing masks, not all the passengers were.
The couple, who are cruise veterans, said the experience would put them off going to sea again.
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