A photograph taken on the Ruby Princess cruise ship has laid bare why the 2,647 passengers on board never stood a chance when coronavirus ripped through the vessel.
Hundreds of well-dressed passengers on board the luxury cruise are seen crammed together as they applaud staff, unaware of the fact coronavirus had already made its way onto the liner – likely through a crew member working in the kitchen – and was spreading like wildfire.
Despite the World Health Organisation declaring a pandemic just three days into the journey and encouraging social distancing to slow the spread of the illness, business carried on as usual on board.
Social distancing wasn’t being practiced and passengers claim they were free to mingle after completing a health questionnaire before they boarded – even though it was already known people could carry and spread the disease without displaying symptoms.
Hundreds of holidaymakers can be seen crammed together applauding the staff from the gold-trimmed staircase on board the Ruby Princess, unaware of the fact coronavirus had already made its way onto the liner
The cruise was cut three days short as the coronavirus crisis escalated across the world and two passengers developed symptoms consistent with the virus.
But thousands of passengers who hadn’t had health checks were still able to disembark in Sydney under the cover of darkness at 2.30am on March 19 after a spectacular breakdown in communication between port authorities, ambulance officers and cruise officials.
They were allowed to leave despite the fact the Ruby Princess issued an urgent mayday call for an ambulance for two of its passengers presenting with coronavirus-like symptoms 24 hours before the ship docked.
A criminal investigation has been launched into how the ship was allowed to dock, with 18 passengers since dying of coronavirus and at least 700 passengers and crew infected.
At least 664 passengers on the luxury liner, which departed Sydney on March 8 and returned on March 19, were infected with the virus, and 18 of Australia’s coronavirus deaths are linked to the ship
An criminal investigation is now looking into how passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney despite coronavirus wreaking havoc on board (Pictured: Police in full protective gear going onto the ship)
Stacie Hunt, 36, who was on the Ruby Princess with her extended family, said passengers were aware of the seriousness of the outbreak, but believed they were safe on board.
‘People were selfish and thought they were safe being away on a boat,’ she told the Australian Financial Review.
‘I had people sneeze all over me. I had people squeeze themselves into lifts that were already too full.’
A Princess Cruises spokesman said there was no reason to believe there was COVID-19 on the ship because anyone displaying symptoms was not allowed on board, and crew members were tested by health authorities before the ship began its journey on March 8.
On Monday NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said a crew member serving food may have been responsible for the outbreak.
The coronial investigation was launched after passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney without adequate health checks on March 19
‘At this stage we would think that it was probably a crew member working in probably the galley, someone who is serving food, someone who would get across a number of passengers for it to spread like it has,’ he told reporters.
‘But again, that is not proven as fact yet, but that would seem to be the most obvious point of transmission is someone who is handling food on behalf of multiple hundreds of people.’
Fallout from the Ruby Princess debacle is continuing to be felt around Australia with two Tasmanian hospitals having to be shut down because of infections caused by passengers.
The Ruby Princess has been docked in Port Kembla, near Wollongong south of Sydney, for the investigation. About 1,000 crew members remain quarantined on the ship.
About 90 crew members have reported coronavirus-like symptoms, and 66 have tested positive for the illness.
A thousand crew members on board the Ruby Princess (pictured) have been fed meals prepared in the luxury liner’s galley, despite warning the kitchen was likely the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak
On Thursday, a crew member, 24, was rushed to Wollongong Hospital. Their condition is not yet known.
It has emerged, the crew were being fed meals prepared on board the ship for weeks after the outbreak was discovered.
Aspen Medical, the government-appointed contractor managing the quarantined ship, only stopped allowing food to be prepared in the galley on Saturday.
The company, which specialises in infection control and isolation protocols, had been overseeing health and safety for Ruby Princess for weeks when it suddenly decided to provide prepackaged meals from dry land instead.
It is not clear why the company made the decision to stop preparing food in the ship’s kitchen ahead of the Commissioner’s announcement this week.
National coordinator of the International Transport Workers Federation Dean Summers told The Australian the call to stop preparing food in the galley was made too late.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller (pictured) said it a crew member working in the galley ‘probably’ spread coronavirus around the cruise ship
The cruise liner, which departed Sydney on March 8 for New Zealand and returned on March 19, led to more than 600 cases of COVID-19 cases nationwide. The boat is currently docked at Port Kembla (pictured)
The crew potentially were put at high risk of catching the virus because of the food they were eating, Mr Summers said.
‘It’s an absolute shambles. The galley was operational, it was feeding all of the crew, and then Aspen Medical thought it might be a way of spreading it,’ he said.
‘Why wouldn’t you think that on the very first day?’
A coronial investigation was launched after some 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney without adequate health checks – an action the Australian Border Force blamed on NSW health authorities.
Federal Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen said the fiasco has turned into a ‘national scandal’.
Eighteen people who were on board the damned cruise ship have died from COVID-19, with two deaths confirmed on Monday.
NSW Health Acting Director Dr Christine Selvey on Monday said both Ruby Princess passengers who died in NSW on Monday had caught the virus on board.
A 74-year-old woman died in John Hunter Hospital and a 79-year-old man died in the Northern Beaches Hospital.
Last week, police in full protective gear boarded the ship and seized evidence, including the voyage data recorder, which has conversations from the bridge.
Health authorities confirmed that there have been 34 cases of secondary infection caused by Ruby Princess passengers across the country.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Aspen Medical for comment.
The Department of Home Affairs said they had ‘nothing further to add to the NSW Police Commissioner’s comments’.