Coronavirus: race to find Ruby Princess passengers after coronavirus outbreak

Health officials are trying to contact 2700 returned cruise ship passengers after four cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on their voyage.

Passengers disembark from the Ruby Princess cruise ship at Circular Quay in Sydney on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Health officials in NSW are urgently contacting 2700 passengers who disembarked from a cruise ship in Sydney on Thursday, after testing of more than a dozen people complaining of flu-like symptoms on board the vessel returned four positive matches for COVID-19.

Details of these efforts were released on Friday, long after the passengers had dispersed into Sydney and some interstate, along with updated data revealing 75 new cases had been recorded overnight, the steepest one-day increase in NSW since testing began.

NSW, which now has at least 382 known cases of COVID-19, accounts for the highest number of infections nationwide and an increasing daily growth rate – from 37 cases on Monday to 50 cases on Wednesday.

It also accounts for more fatalities than any other state: an 81-year-old woman was confirmed by NSW Health as the sixth death on Friday. She had been in close contact with another confirmed case of COVID-19 linked to Ryde Hospital, where initial cases had been treated, a statement said.

Nationwide there were 784 cases recorded as of Friday, with Queensland reporting 144 cases and Victoria reporting 150, though these numbers had been released early in the day and were almost certain to increase.

A lounge area on the Ruby Princess. Three cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among passengers on the last cruise. Picture: Supplied

Mr Hazzard said the Ruby Princess cruise ship docked in Sydney with more than 3800 people on board, including 1100 crew members and 2700 passengers, who disembarked as COVID-19 testing was being conducted.

They were required to leave their email addresses and telephone numbers with Australian Border Force officials, he said, in order for contact to be made in case of an emergency. Authorities are now trying to track down these people and ensure they remain in quarantine for 14 days, as they were instructed.

“Our big concern is that those people came off the cruise with no knowledge of COVID being on the ship, and, if they think it’s OK to be wandering around, the clear message from me as NSW Health Minister is: No, it’s not, put yourself immediately into quarantine,” Mr Hazzard said.

“Getting to 2700 people is a bit of a journey. Some people haven’t responded,” he said.

The Ruby Princess had been on a return voyage to New Zealand from Australia; as of Friday it remained off the coast of Sydney towards Wollongong.

The four people diagnosed include a crew member aboard the ship, two passengers in their 70s who are being treated at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and a fourth currently being cared for by the Tasmanian health system, Mr Hazzard said.

“There may be other passengers on board that ship who could have had the COVID virus, and those people, if they’re following the instructions that were given to them … then they’ll be at home in quarantine for 14 days — and that would present no concerns whatsoever to us in NSW.”

A statement issued by the Tasmanian Government said 54 passengers on board the ship were from that state.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant, left, and state Health Minister Health Brad Hazzard in Sydney. Picture: AAP

Dr Kerry Chant, the NSW chief health officer, said another four infections had been identified among 300 congregants who attended a Sydney Church of Christ service at Ryde Civic Hall on March 8.

“Should anyone be unwell, seek assessment. Your risk for COVID-19 is slightly increased,” she said.

Mr Hazzard warned that social distancing measures were not being heeded rigorously enough in the community, particularly among young people.

Of the 382 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in NSW, the majority remain below the age of 50; the highest proportion are aged in the 30-39 age group, according the most recent NSW Health figures.

Mr Hazzard said media coverage of people blithely relaxing in close proximity to each other on Sydney’s Bondi Beach had been disappointing.

“This is no time to be ignoring what is a very serious issue,” he said.

NSW Health confirmed another resident of Sydney’s Dorothy Henderson Lodge, an aged care facility, had also been diagnosed with the COVID-19, and that infection control measures were being taken.

The facility had already been at the centre of a cluster of cases involving staff, residents and their associated contacts, as well as the death of a 90-year-old resident last weekend.