A Majestic Princess cruise ship has docked in Sydney after hundreds of passengers on board got infected with Covid-19. The cruise ship was carrying more than 3,000 guests and at least 1,300 crew members on a 12-day cruise to New Zealand and is now set to leave Sydney for Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
“We have been proactively preparing for and managing incidences of Covid-19 and working with NSW (New South Wales) Health,” said Carnival Australia president, Marguerite Fitzgerald, addressing the press at Circular Quay where the ship docked on Saturday morning. She also confirmed at least 800 people onboard have tested positive for Covid while the majority of those infected are passengers.
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Fitzgerald also said they saw an uptick in cases halfway through the voyage and that most infected guests had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. Furthermore, passengers who tested positive were isolated in their cabins and after disembarkment have been warned against using public transport.
She also spoke about how they had been preparing for such kind of a situation for months, “We always knew that there was a risk that at some point we were going to see a surge in community transmission and that we would then see that on the ship,” said Carnival Australia president.
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“All guests disembarking have undertaken a rapid antigen test in the past 24 hours” said Fitzgerald, the result of which determined how they will exit the ship. She added, “All guests will be masked, regardless of COVID status.” Passengers who had tested negative were allowed to leave the ship first, while those who tested positive exited deck-by-deck through a separate door, reported the local media.
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Meanwhile, NSW Health, state health authorities have categorised the vessel at its highest Covid alert possible for those on board with a Tier Three warning which indicates a high level of transmission. In a statement, the health authorities also said that “Carnival has advised NSW Health that they are assisting passengers with COVID-19 to make safe onward travel arrangements.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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