Coronavirus: Ruby Princess fatality takes death toll from stricken cruise ship to 22

The Ruby Princess disaster continues to take its toll, with another passenger dying after contracting COVID-19 while on board.

The Ruby Princess anchored in Manila Bay in The Philippines earlier this month. Picture: AP

The Ruby Princess disaster continues to take its toll two months after it docked in Sydney Harbour, with another passenger dying after contracting COVID-19 while on board the ill-fated cruise ship.

NSW Health on Wednesday confirmed the death of an 81-year-old woman, the ship’s 22nd fatality since passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney on March 19.

Twenty of the dead were Australians and two were overseas passengers.

The woman’s death is the first COVID-19 fatality in Australia since May 5, and takes the ­national toll to 98, 47 of which have been recorded in NSW.

“It’s upsetting to know people are still perishing, dying from this horrible virus and we can’t imagine what families are going through,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday.

The state’s health authority confirmed six more cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, with three believed to be community-transmitted. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said two of the new cases were close contacts of a nurse at the Newmarch House aged-care facility, which is at the centre of an outbreak that has ­resulted in the death of 16 of its ­elderly residents and a total of 69 infections.

One additional diagnosis was recorded in Queensland, with 18 people yet to recover out of the 1052 cases recorded in the state.

In Western Australia, 538 people have recovered from the disease, with the number of active cases falling to six, including one in intensive care.

No new cases were reported in the ACT on Wednesday.

South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory also recorded no new cases.