Coronavirus: Ruby Princess passenger Maureen Dawes describes heartbreaking final moments with partner

A Tasmanian woman has described her final moments with her partner in the Royal Hobart Hospital after he was diagnosed with coronavirus following a cruise around New Zealand.

Maureen Dawes had always wanted to see New Zealand.

When she decided to join friends on a cruise aboard the Ruby Princess, her partner of three decades Len Fisher said he would come, too.

“I’m sure Lenny only went for my sake, but his bag was packed a week before we left,” said Mrs Dawes, 77, of Hobart.

The pair spent 11 enjoyable days sailing around the coast of New Zealand with 2700 other passengers.

But days after they came home to Tasmania, Mr Fisher, an 81-year-old retired bus depot manager, became sick.

Last Monday, Mrs Dawes sat next to Mr Fisher’s bed at the Royal Hobart Hospital, unable to hold his hand or kiss him goodbye as he died.

Maureen Dawes holds a photo of her and Len Fisher. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

“I couldn’t give him a cuddle. I could do nothing. Nothing,” she said.

Mrs Dawes had been in self-isolation and doctors only gave her permission to visit because they knew the end was near.

“I put on mask, gloves and a gown. When I walked in he put his hand up and said, ‘Don’t come near me,’ ” she said.

“We were together for 29 years. We didn’t live together but I cooked him a meal every night and he helped me in the garden. Then this happened so quickly.”

When it was time for her to leave at 6.15pm on Monday, she told him: “I’ll see you later my love.” He died at 8.20pm.

“I will miss him so much, but it won’t bring him back.”

Maureen Dawes and Leo Fisher.

Mr Fisher is one of 612 Ruby Princess passengers and crew members who have now been diagnosed with coronavirus in what is rapidly emerging as one of Australia’s greatest health disasters.

Mr Fisher, who had a daughter and two sons, through an earlier marriage, is one of seven who died.

Another victim, an elderly woman, was Tasmania’s first coronavirus death.

More than 15 per cent of the almost 4000 passengers and crew have now been infected.

Like many families across Australia, Mrs Dawes wants answers: “We shouldn’t have got on that ship that day.’’

She has questions about why people were not told about COVID-19 on the ship and sick passengers who were not told to self-isolate.

The NSW Government is under fire after leaked emails revealed results of onboard swab tests from Ruby Princess passengers who were showing signs of influenza would have been available the same day passengers disembarked the ship.