Coronavirus NSW: 24 Ruby Princess passengers had fever on board: inquiry

Port Authority worker received 'unprecedented' calls

Jessica McSweeney

A NSW Port Authority worker said he received unprecedented calls from both Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force the night before the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney.

Duty harbour master Cameron Butchart said people claiming to be commonwealth officials called him late on March 18 with concerns about the risk of a coronavirus outbreak on board the vessel.

“On the evening of the 18th I had no way of cross checking who these parties were,” he said.

The port services manager said he and the ABF representative discussed turning the ship around and sending it back to sea, but he was told on a second call shortly after that the ship could dock.

“Did you at the time have the view that you were speaking to someone who might reverse what you understood to be the earlier grant of (permission to dock)?” Commissioner Bret Walker SC asked.

“The particular person certainly had concerns with the situation and I believed… it was I who could turn it around,” Mr Butchart said.

The public inquiry has heard that the Authority had initially denied the ship permission to berth late on March 18 following a call from a senior ambulance officer who said some passengers on board were displaying symptoms of COVID-19.

Prior to its entry into Sydney Harbour, an agent from the cruise ship had contacted Ambulance NSW to book a vehicle for two of its sick passengers.

However in the early hours of March 19 the Authority reversed its decision following a call from senior Carnival Australia manager Paul Mifsud, who said the ambulance bookings weren’t linked to coronavirus, the probe heard.

NSW Health and police were worried the requests from paramedics may have been fake, Mr Butchart said.

The Port Authority is responsible for allowing ships to dock but NSW Health is tasked with assessing any public health risk in disembarkation, and had already deemed the liner a low biosecurity risk.

–Lucy Hughes Jones

Carnival Australia manager said it was 'business as usual' night before docking

Jessica McSweeney

A senior Carnival Australia manager assured the NSW Ports Authority things were “business as usual” when questioned about coronavirus fears the night before the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney, an inquiry heard.

The cruise company’s head of port operations Paul Mifsud told the official that government health authorities had deemed the liner a low biosecurity risk when called late at night on March 18, the probe heard.

NSW Ports Authority’s Robert Rybanic said he'd called him asking why paramedics had been requested to transfer two sick passengers who potentially had COVID-19.

“He said the booking of the ambulances was not related to COVID,” the senior manager of crews and terminal operations told the inquiry.

“He basically said it was business as usual… it wasn’t a COVID ship.”

Commissioner Bret Walker SC questioned how anyone could confidently say the Ruby Princess wasn’t a “COVID ship” before the swab tests results had come back.

Mr Rybanic added that Mr Mifsud also couldn’t explain why the ship’s doctor or the NSW Ambulance command centre had called the port authority’s Vessel Traffic Service.

Trainee paramedic Simeon Pridmore earlier told the inquiry he’d been instructed to wear infectious disease protective gear while picking up one of the sick guests, who was taken directly to a COVID-19 ward at Royal Prince Alfred hospital.

Both patients later tested positive for the illness, and one died within days.

The chief doctor onboard the Ruby Princess previously told the inquiry the patients had fever and respiratory illness symptoms, but needed ambulances for nerve damage and a heart condition.

–Lucy Hughes Jones

Blacktown City’s festive season kicks off

Ben James

The Ruby Princess submitted an updated human health report seven hours before the ship berthed in Sydney, showing the number of sick people onboard was increasing.
The updated health report has been tendered to a powerful probe into the handling of the vessel, showing the ship reported 128 people had become ill or shown signs of illness in the last 14 days.
The most recent health report referenced was submitted through a federal government reporting system at 7.21pm on March 18 – the night before almost 2,600 passengers were allowed to disembark. The report showed 24 people had a fever.
The previous report, submitted at 8.54am on March 18, showed 110 people onboard were sick or showed signs of sickness, with 17 displaying a fever.
Lawyers for Carnival Cruises told the inquiry they wished to probe NSW Health Epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler over whether she had access to the updated information.
“What we wish to explore with Ms Ressler was that it appears … (she) would have had access to this information,” David McClure SC said.
The federal Agriculture Department supplied documents to a senate probe into the COVID-19 response on Tuesday, showing the ship reported 53 sick people onboard on March 16. That number was updated on the morning of March 18, and again at 7.21pm that night.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for Princess Cruises said the information “shows that the ship had continued to update the official MARS health status of the ship”.
“It also shows that an increase in the number of passengers and crew who were ill had been reported to the official human health reporting mechanism,” the statement said.
Previously, the NSW special commission of inquiry heard the ship’s doctor, Ilse von Watzdorf, forgot to send the final health report before passengers disembarked the ship.
"I’ll send it now, sorry I forgot. That last one was from the morning (of March 18), it was so crazy," Dr von Watzdorf told NSW Health authorities on March 20.
The inquiry has previously heard there were additional people swabbed for COVID-19, who then returned positive results, who did not appear on the last health report seen by Health authorities on March 19.

–James O'Doherty

24 passengers had fever before docking

The Ruby Princess submitted an updated human health report seven hours before the ship berthed in Sydney, showing the number of sick people onboard was increasing.
The updated health report has been tendered to a powerful probe into the handling of the vessel, showing the ship reported 128 people had become ill or shown signs of illness in the last 14 days.
The most recent health report referenced was submitted through a federal government reporting system at 7.21pm on March 18 – the night before almost 2,600 passengers were allowed to disembark. The report showed 24 people had a fever.
The previous report, submitted at 8.54am on March 18, showed 110 people onboard were sick or showed signs of sickness, with 17 displaying a fever.
Lawyers for Carnival Cruises told the inquiry they wished to probe NSW Health Epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler over whether she had access to the updated information.
“What we wish to explore with Ms Ressler was that it appears … (she) would have had access to this information,” David McClure SC said.
The federal Agriculture Department supplied documents to a senate probe into the COVID-19 response on Tuesday, showing the ship reported 53 sick people onboard on March 16. That number was updated on the morning of March 18, and again at 7.21pm that night.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for Princess Cruises said the information “shows that the ship had continued to update the official MARS health status of the ship”.
“It also shows that an increase in the number of passengers and crew who were ill had been reported to the official human health reporting mechanism,” the statement said.
Previously, the NSW special commission of inquiry heard the ship’s doctor, Ilse von Watzdorf, forgot to send the final health report before passengers disembarked the ship.
"I’ll send it now, sorry I forgot. That last one was from the morning (of March 18), it was so crazy," Dr von Watzdorf told NSW Health authorities on March 20.
The inquiry has previously heard there were additional people swabbed for COVID-19, who then returned positive results, who did not appear on the last health report seen by Health authorities on March 19.

–James O'Doherty

NSW Ambulance worker thought transferring sick passengers was 'unusual'

Jessica McSweeney

A NSW Ambulance worker organising transfers for two sick Ruby Princess passengers in Sydney thought it was “unusual” that Australia was still accepting cruise ships amid the coronavirus pandemic, an inquiry heard.

Duty control centre officer Naomi Mannion said she found it strange that the patients, who had fevers and respiratory illnesses, were being stretchered off the vessel in the early hours of March 19 when liners usually docked in Circular Quay around 6am.

“I think, given the current climate, I didn’t believe that we were allowing ships into port and it just seemed unusual,” she told the public inquiry.

The vessel’s chief doctor has previously testified that the patients had COVID-19 like symptoms, but needed ambulances for other, unrelated, health problems.

Ms Mannion said she called Royal Prince Alfred hospital because she wanted to confirm it knew about and was accepting the patients.

Both 62-year-old Anthony Londero and Lesley Bacon, 77, later tested positive to coronavirus, and Ms Bacon died within a few days.

–Lucy Hughes Jones

Patrols in Blacktown City Parks

Ben James

The Australian Border Force knew about sick Ruby Princess cruise ship passengers before all guests were permitted to disembark in Sydney, an inquiry heard.

Carnival Australia port agent Dobrila Tokovic said she met three ABF officers on the Circular Quay wharf around 6am on March 19 to discuss the guests with COVID-19 like symptoms who were quarantining.

More than 100 passengers had developed respiratory illnesses during the voyage, and those who were sick had been confined to their cabins in the days before the ship docked.

“They asked me about the people in isolation, they were aware of them already,” Ms Tokovic told the inquiry.

Ms Tokovic said the ABF officers, dressed in protective clothing, questioned her about where the patients were staying on the liner and advised that they didn’t want to see them.

The officers then boarded the ship to process the passports of passengers and crew that had joined the cruise in New Zealand.

Ms Tokovic said cruise liners "don't do anything with passengers or crew without seeking approval to do so" from Border Force.

"You need to seek ABF permission for people to come off the ship?" Commissioner Bret Walker SC asked.

"Yes," Ms Tokovic said.

She said permission from Border Force was required to make certain judgments about checking incoming passenger cards, even if "face to passport" checks weren't required.

Ms Tokovic said a NSW Port Authority worker later challenged her about why she hadn’t flagged that sick people in isolation were coming off the vessel.

The authority’s cruise operations duty manager Julie Taylor said “I think we have a right to know” given the coronavirus pandemic, the inquiry heard.

“She was quite upset about it,” Ms Tokovic said.

But the Carnival Australia worker explained it wasn’t company policy to alert the state port authority about such things, adding that “in most situations a port agent doesn’t even know that there are people in isolation.”

The inquiry heard it wasn’t until after she finished work at 4pm that Ms Tokovic discovered some of the coronavirus swab tests results had come back positive, saying “I actually found out from my partner who was watching the news.”

–Lucy Hughes Jones

Border Force knew about sick passengers before disembarking