Coronavirus: Australia’s cases soar after cruise ship passengers disembark in ‘monumental stuff-up’
- Ruby Princess became the country’s largest source of coronavirus infections and one of its passengers also became the eighth fatality nationally
- About 130 passengers had tested positive and officials were frantically hunting down other travellers to test them and track their movements
The ship, Carnival Corp’s Ruby Princess, became the country’s largest source of coronavirus infections as one of its passengers also became the eighth fatality nationally.
In a chain of events described by New South Wales state Police Minister David Elliott as a “monumental stuff-up”, about 2,700 passengers were allowed to leave the ship when it docked in Sydney on March 19.
By Tuesday, around 130 of those passengers had tested positive and officials were frantically hunting down other travellers to test them and track their movements.
Australia stepped closer to a full lockdown on Tuesday, with authorities warning of harsher penalties for anybody violating self-isolation orders as they began to worry that hospitals were starting to feel the strain.