Coronavirus: Fresh cruise disaster looms off WA

More than 70 passengers and crew on board one of several cruise ships in Fremantle are now suspected of being infected.

A passenger walks from the MV Artania to be attended to by waiting paramedics on the wharf at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal.

More than 70 passengers and crew on board the the Artania cruise ship in Fremantle are now suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, causing a further headache for the West Australian government.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on Saturday 496 cases of Australia’s more than 3,500 COVID-19 infections had come from cruise ships alone.

Plans for how to deal with the crisis are yet to be revealed, but Premier Mark McGowan has been pushing for the Commonwealth to take responsibility for the ship.

It is understood among the options being considered are for the ship to sail to a defence base such as HMAS Stirling at Garden Island or the detention centre at Christmas Island.

On Friday, nine people confirmed or suspected of being infected with COVID-19 disembarked from the Artania and were taken into quarantine at the WA police academy.

Two other ill people, who do not have coronavirus, remain in hospital after leaving the ship on Thursday.

Cruise ship CMV Vasco Da Gama berths behind MV Artania at the port of Fremantle for emergency refuelling and supplies on March 27.

Plans were under way for the hundreds of healthy European passengers and some crew to be flown to Germany on three planes over the weekend. It is not clear if that will still happen.

No Australians are on board the vessel.

The Vasco da Gama cruise ship docked in Fremantle on Friday evening and its New Zealand passengers are expected to fly home on Saturday night. About 200 passengers from WA will go into isolation on Rottnest Island for 14 days, while about 600 other Australians will go to either Rottnest or another hotel to quarantine for two weeks before heading home.

Cruise ship Magnifica, which is anchored off Fremantle but does not have any coronavirus cases, is still expected to leave after reprovisioning. WA has 255 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 13 people who are in hospital. The state has recorded two deaths.

Cruise ship passenger Sakib Awan is in mandatory hotel quarantine in Sydney after finally being disembarked from the Norwegian Jewel this week. He expressed his frustrations at being “locked” inside his hotel room.

“I know detention is a is a strong word but that essentially what is happening here. We can’t even get fresh air,” Mr Awan told the ABC.

AAP