Coronavirus NSW live updates: Ruby Princess crew could be flown home this week
Crew on the coronavirus-riddled Ruby Princess could be flown to their home countries on charter flights as early as this week. It comes after a man and woman aged in their 70s died from COVID-19 in NSW after travelling on the embattled cruise ship.
NSW Coronavirus News
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW Coronavirus News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
This coronavirus article is unlocked and free to read in the interest of community health and safety. For full access to the Daily Telegraph journalism, subscribe here.
LATEST NEWS
Crew on the coronavirus-riddled Ruby Princess could be flown to their home countries on charter flights as early as this week.
NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller said the painstaking criminal investigation into the docking of the ship, which has been linked to 18 deaths, continued while conversations were underway with its owner Carnival over “repatriation options”.
“Potentially charter flights that would be paid for by Carnival, absolutely in the first instance,” Mr Fuller said.
“Consulates like the British the American, the Canadian consulate, are keen to get their people home.
“If someone is clear of the virus they could certainly fly with normal restrictions.”
Asked whether the flights could begin on Wednesday after crew had completed a non-board isolation period, he said “absolutely”.
Mr Fuller will tell Premier Gladys Berejiklian by tomorrow morning how long he expects the criminal investigation to take.
He said a call through the media last week for anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers had yielded more than 220 leads for detectives which could take two months to work through.
Meanwhile, the NSW death toll from COVID-19 rose to 26 this morning, with two more Ruby Princess passengers dying from the killer virus yesterday.
A 74-year-old woman died in John Hunter Hospital and a 79-year-old man died at Northern Beaches Hospital, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
The announcement came after federal authorities confirmed 61 people had died from the disease across the country - 18 of the deaths were from the Ruby Princess.
There were nine new cases in NSW recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, with 2603 tests undertaken.
It comes as almost 200 relieved Australians arrived home in Sydney this morning on a special one-off flight from Cambodia after fearing they would be stranded amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The Singapore Airlines chartered flight from Phnom Penh arrived at Sydney Airport conveying 164 Australians and 20 permanent residents, who are now in hotel quarantine.