WA premier rips into NSW over Ruby Princess cruise ship debacle after 18 passengers test positive for coronavirus

WA Premier Mark McGowan has ripped into the state of NSW over its handling of the coronavirus-riddled Ruby Princess cruise ship.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has lashed NSW’s handling of cruise ship passengers who disembarked in Sydney after it was revealed 18 passengers confirmed positive for coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference today, Mr McGowan claimed his state was managing the situation better than his east coast counterpart.

“NSW had people coming off ships yesterday and that may have changed matters. We managed the cruise ship very, very well yesterday so quite different to what happened in NSW,” Mr McGowan told reporters.

“Look, these are matters we will discuss later on this evening and these are extreme, extreme, extreme measures so we will discuss those this afternoon.

“They are extreme measures we are talking about but we want to do our best to protect all Western Australians so we will listen to the medical advice this evening.”

The comments come as WA announces it plans to shut its borders from 1.30pm on Tuesday, and anyone who enters from that time will need to self-isolate for a fortnight.

The number of people with coronavirus who were on board the Ruby Princess, which docked in Sydney, spiked from four to 18, after a confirmation by NSW Health.

Figures were confirmed on the health authority’s website this afternoon, adding all passengers and crew had been notified and advised to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor symptoms.

It comes after an American couple on board the Ruby Princess flew interstate in Australia in an attempt to get back to the US.

News.com.au understands the pair flew from Sydney to Brisbane after they disembarked on Thursday to try to get a flight overseas.

When the flight was cancelled they flew back to the Sydney to await a flight to California.

It is understood they are now back in the US and when they were in Australia they were not told other passengers had coronavirus symptoms.

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Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess, docked at Circular Quay, Sydney.

The Ruby Princess left Sydney on March 8 before it completed a cruise around the Pacific to New Zealand and returned to the city on Thursday morning, with several passengers reporting flu-like symptoms while on-board.

Passengers who disembarked the ship didn’t have their temperature checked and have since flown to other Australian cities.

This is despite NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard yesterday saying that it was possible other people on board had COVID-19 and everyone needed to self isolate for 14 days, including more than 2600 passengers who were allowed to leave the ship.

“There were some people on board the cruise ship who presented with flu-like symptoms,” Mr Hazzard said.

The Princes Cruises-operated vessel was carrying about 2647 passengers and 1148 crew.

A doctor on board did 13 swabs to test for coronavirus and three passengers, who disembarked at Circular Quay, were later confirmed to have COVID-19. They are receiving treatment in Sydney. Mr Hazzard said one of the passengers is “not particularly well”.

A fourth case of the virus is a crew member who is in isolation and is still on board the ship, with a further 14 cases announced today.

Investigations are ongoing.

There have been 533 cases of coronavirus confirmed in NSW.

Sixty-three per cent of the ship’s 2647 passengers were Australian, 20 per cent were United States residents and the rest were from a variety of other countries.

The reality for health authorities is that thousands of passengers, possibly exposed to coronavirus, are now scattered across Sydney and perhaps the country.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said all passengers had been contacted by text and email with authorities next making follow-up phone calls but it’s not yet clear how many have actually been reached.

Mr Hazzard earlier said contacting thousands of passengers was “a bit of a journey” and some had not responded.

“If you start to show any of the symptoms, whether it a fever, a cough, or any of the other well-known symptoms that can associate with – like flu, obviously – we want you to make sure you report that in, and take due medical advice,” he said.

“It is actually serious, because if we have nearly 2700 people that were passengers on that ship, we want to know every single one of them is in quarantine.”

Of the 1148 crew, 98 have left the ship and NSW for their home countries.

The rest of the crew remain in isolation on board the ship, which is currently at sea, off the New South Wales coast, somewhere between Sydney and Wollongong.

Dr Chant said the cruise ship company would take care of the 1148 Ruby Princess crew. “They have doctors on board the ship, they have ICU facilities, they have care,” Dr Chant said.

Mr Hazzard asked for help getting the 14-day self isolation message out to those affected.

Police officers patrol Bondi Beach prior to its closure in Sydney on Saturday. Picture: AP Image/James Gourley)

“If you know somebody who came in (Thursday) from the Ruby Princess, do our community a very big favour and have a chat and make sure that they are given this clear message,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NSW government identified another four cruise ships affected by COVID-19, in addition to the Ruby Princess.

It’s now scrambling to contact thousands of people who were on-board the ships which visited Sydney this month, carrying passengers infected with coronavirus. NSW Health in a statement said its risk assessments for cruise ships were “far in excess” of those in other jurisdictions.

All travellers from international cruises are required to self-quarantine for 14 days after they disembark, NSW Health said.

-with AAP