Ruby Princess cruise ship inquiry: ’Unacceptable’ swabs from Royal Caribbean sent to NSW Health
The Ruby Princess inquiry has heard NSW Health pathologists raised safety concerns after bloodied flu test samples were sent to the lab in an “unacceptable state.”
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Bloodied swabs from Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas cruise ship arrived at NSW Health labs in an “unacceptable state” during the coronavirus pandemic, the Ruby Princess inquiry heard.
Randwick pathology scientists raised safety concerns when influenza test samples arrived on February 19, in another example of the cruise liner industry’s woefully inadequate compliance on testing.
“They were bloodied swabs without a sheath or cover placed directly into plastic bags,” Senior Hospital Scientist Anna Condylios wrote in an email to NSW Health’s Professor Mark Ferson.
“(They) arrived in an unacceptable state … we processed them today due to the urgency but our staff were quite concerned.”
The ship’s medical centre had improperly packed the swabs by placing two in each plastic bag ‘head to tail’ – making it very difficult and dangerous for lab staff to handle, which Ms Condylios labelled a work health and safety issue.
“Considering the documented transmission of COVID-19, we will not be able to process samples that arrive in this manner in the future,” she said.
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Commissioner Bret Walker SC has slammed the “deplorable” COVID-19 testing rates from the Ruby Princess, as the inquiry investigates why 2,700 people were allowed to disembark the vessel in Sydney on March 19 without proper health checks and with swabs pending.
The Ruby Princess was still in New Zealand on March 16 when the Australian government moved to shut its maritime borders to cruise ships, ordering all returning vessels to do so immediately.
In an internal briefing sent out that day, Carnival Australia senior executive Peter Little mentioned “significant negative press in NZ towards Princess Cruises” was also a contributing factor when the Ruby Princess changed course and sailed directly to Sydney.
He’d been referring to media reports about the Golden Princess, which was being held off the coast of Akaroa amid a coronavirus scare after it was discovered a sick passenger had been on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne with a confirmed case.
NSW Port Authority marine pilot James Dargaville has also vented his disappointment that the Ruby Princess captain lied about sick passengers on board during an earlier docking of the ship in Sydney on March 8.
At around 4.30am that morning, Mr Dargaville boarded the vessel just outside Sydney Harbour to bring it into port.
“The captain put his hand out to shake my hand, I put my elbow out to tap him. The captain said something like, “don’t worry, everyone is well on here”.”
This assurance had also been given in writing, despite the ship having forewarned NSW Health at least 24 hours earlier that 170 people had acute respiratory disease or influenza-like illnesses, and some had been tested for COVID-19.
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Mr Dargaville was informed at around 8.30am that NSW Health had delayed disembarkation while they screened 300 people, that six passengers and three crew who are in isolation were tested for COVID-19 “and that I should have been held also.”
The pilot, who had been wearing gloves and a mask while walking around the ship, received the news as he drove home from work.
“This was fortuitous as my wife is a nurse manager at an aged care/retirement village who was about to leave for work. I remained in my car to avoid contact with my family until I received more information,” Mr Dargaville wrote in an email to his colleagues that evening.
“Although all the tests were negative, this issue has raised a lot of questions about the management of these cruise vessels.”
Mr Dargaville said he was disappointed that the captain and Carnival’s port agents “made a false declaration, one I relied on, regarding the health of the passengers and crew.”
The inquiry has heard that the captain claimed there had been a misunderstanding, thinking he’d been asked specifically about confirmed coronavirus cases.
The inquiry continues.
June 29: 1600 warning texts failed to reach Ruby passengers
A NSW Health text alert sent to Ruby Princess passengers revealing there had been COVID-19 on-board the cruise ship “had a very high fail rate”, an inquiry heard.
On March 20 the state government health authority tried to send 2,586 messages to guests who had disembarked the vessel in Sydney the previous day, counsel assisting Richard Beasley SC said.
But 1,636 of those texts failed to reach guests, many of whom had overseas phone numbers, the inquiry heard.
And NSW Health made no effort to contact any of the 98 crew members who left the liner, instead asking Carnival Australia to notify them.
On that same day an email was sent to 2,626 passengers informing they were close contacts to a known coronavirus case, but “there were 91 bounce backs,” Mr Beasley said.
There were also conflicting messages sent by NSW Health and the Australian Border Force regarding the home self isolation duration period, onward travel restrictions and whether guests should wear a face mask as they made their way home.
Commissioner Bret Walker SC labelled the discrepancies a “rather obvious weakness” in a system designed to prevent contagion.
QANTAS informed NSW Health that 170 close contacts boarded a flight to the United States on the evening of March 21, flouting advice to quarantine and cancel onward travel, the inquiry heard.
But the state government failed to contact any airlines directly, instead relying on the federal government to do so after the issue was raised on March 22, NSW Health epidemiologist Dr Christine Selvey said.
“Why didn’t NSW health notify the airlines as soon as there was a confirmed positive case from the Ruby Princess?” Mr Walker asked.
“I don’t know why that wasn’t done … NSW Health would not normally talk to the airlines directly, they would talk to the airlines via the Commonwealth,” Dr Selvey said.
“They’re a national company and it’s appropriate for their discussion to happen at that level, through the Australian government.”
“Why can’t a state official speak to a national company? They do all the time,” Mr Walker said.
The inquiry also heard when a passenger bid farewell to her elderly husband as he left for a Sydney hospital with a sniffily nose, she had no idea the next time they’d reunite would be on his deathbed.
The Sydney widow’s husband Robert developed very mild COVID-19 symptoms as the vessel berthed in Circular Quay on March 19, and within days he contracted pneumonia and died.
The inquiry also heard when a passenger bid farewell to her elderly husband as he left for a Sydney hospital with a sniffily nose, she had no idea the next time they’d reunite would be on his deathbed.
The Sydney widow’s husband Robert developed very mild COVID-19 symptoms as the vessel berthed in Circular Quay on March 19, and within days he contracted pneumonia and died.
The inquiry heard NSW Health only instructed Mr Moore to isolate at their Wentworthville home after receiving a positive test result, but their family doctor urged them to call an ambulance immediately because he had pre-existing conditions.
“And he rang my husband everyday in the hospital,” a tearful Mrs Moore said.
“I wouldn’t have rung the ambulance … even the sniffles he had, I didn’t consider it bad enough.“
Mrs Moore said paramedics initially did not want to take her husband to hospital either “because he looked well.”
But within a week of being placed into Westmead Hospital‘s intensive care unit, staff called Mrs Moore telling her “they did not expect him to survive the night.”
The couple, who had been married for 58 years, had not been permitted to see each other as Mr Moore battled the disease in quarantine.
They reunited one last time when he was on his deathbed, Mrs Moore said.
“The family was permitted to see him one at a time for a short time each. I was the first person to go in,” she said in her police statement.
“He was conscious, but he was very tired, confused and finding it very hard to breathe.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Mr Walker said.
When Mr Walker thanked Mrs Moore for her emotional evidence, she replied: “As long as it helps with another cruise.”
“I can’t do anything about my husband – he’s gone,” she said.
“But if we can prevent it happening again, that’s all that matters.”
The veteran cruiser flagged concern that the liner allowed people travelling from overseas on the ship during the pandemic without screening, questioning whether they helped spread the contagion.
Some 2,700 people were allowed to disembark the vessel without proper health checks, in what has become the single largest source of infection nationally.
The inquiry continues.