Cruise liner Ruby Princess coronavirus infection spreads to community

At least six people diagnosed with COVID-19 after contact with Ruby Princess passengers.

The Ruby Princess cruise ship in waters off Sydney on Monday. Picture: AAP

At least six people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 after coming into contact with passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship, confirming the first known cases of community transmissions since those on board were allowed to prematurely disembark the liner almost two weeks ago.

Jeremy McAnulty, director health protection at NSW Health, said the six people were close contacts of the 189 Ruby Princess passengers who have since been diagnosed with COVID-19 following the ship’s arrival at Sydney’s Circular Quay on March 19.

“We’re trying to contain the infection as much as possible, and these people were in close contact with some of the people who were infected,” Dr McAnulty said.

Those infected are understood to be family members of the cruise ship passengers.

“We understand the people are relatively well, but we’re continuing to support them and track other cases in the community,” he said. “It’s pleasing there aren’t ­further cases.”

Dr McAnulty was unable to say how many transmissions had been identified interstate, where several of the cruise ship’s passengers travelled after being let off the ship. The figures were collated at the request of The Australian, with more data expected to be released on Tuesday.

NSW Health released revised figures on Monday confirming that at least 215 of the 2647 Ruby Princess passengers had been confirmed with the virus. At least 26 of these passengers reside interstate.

Cruise ships continue to account for some of the highest concentrations of coronavirus outbreaks in NSW.

As of 8pm on Sunday, NSW had recorded 1918 confirmed cases across the state; 271 of these could be traced back to cruise liners, about 14 per cent of cases.

The Ruby Princess has had the highest number of cases, followed by the Ovation of the Seas, which has recorded 66 cases, then the Voyager of the Seas, with 26 infections, and the Celebrity Solstice with four infections.

The number of transmissions traced to these ships — cases where people not aboard the cruise ship had contracted the illness — had not been collated by NSW Health as of Monday night.

The Ruby Princess has been especially troublesome for the Berejiklian government. The decision to let its passengers disembark prompted a feud between multiple departments and federal agencies, all of which sought to distance themselves from the matter.

The Australian has since revealed the ship had previously been graded “medium risk” when it docked in Sydney 11 days earlier.

The fallout from the ship’s arrival has also seen responsibility for maritime arrivals stripped from a slew of government agencies and handed to the NSW Police Commissioner.

Overnight, three crew members who have been self-isolating aboard the ship were transported to hospital by a team of paramedics and a doctor, who met the vessel a few kilometres off Botany Bay. The crew members had deteriorated from suspected COVID-19 symptoms, and are being treated in Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.