Six new cases as Tasmanian Premier declares war COVID-19

An additional six coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Tasmania bringing the total number of cases in the state to 28.

SIX more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Tasmania, health authorities have confirmed.

Acting Director of Public Health Scott McKeown said this brought the state’s tally of confirmed cases to 28.

Four of the new cases are from the Ruby Princess cruise ship that arrived in Sydney on Thursday.

One is from another cruise ship Celebrity Solstice that arrived in Sydney a day later, while the other has recently returned from overseas.

Three of the new cases are from northern Tasmania and the other three are from the state’s south.

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Dr McKeown said Public Health Services was working to identify and contact close contacts of the cases so they can be placed in self-quarantine.

He also advised the two people who had yet to be contacted from the 54 Tasmanians aboard the Ruby Princess have been contacted by Public Health and will be monitored in quarantine.

“These cases reflect the rapidly increasing incidence of coronavirus infection throughout the world, and the occurrence of cases and outbreaks aboard cruise ships,’’ he said.

“All 28 cases to date are directly linked to overseas travel or cruise ships, or to people who have travelled overseas.

“There is no evidence of community transmission in Tasmania.”

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It comes as Premier Peter Gutwein declared Tasmania was at war with coronavirus.

“We are at war against an insidious disease,’’ he said.

“We must bring the weapons that we have to fight it.

“This weapon is social distancing. This is not a training drill, this is real and we expect all Tasmanians to play their part.”

Mr Gutwein also warned Tasmanians to comply with self-isolation directives, saying the failure to do so would put lives at risk.

Meanwhile, the location of two Tasmanians who were on board a cruise ship that has since recorded multiple coronavirus infections is still unknown.

Authorities have contacted 52 of the 54 Tasmanians who were on the Ruby Princess which docked in Sydney on Thursday after travelling from New Zealand.

Dr Veitch said emails had been sent to the two outstanding passengers, but they have not been able to be contacted by phone.

Acting Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein during a press conference at Hobart. Picture CHRIS KIDD

“We’re currently looking at approaching them at their residence, and also looking at some other means to determine whether they’ve actually re-entered Tasmania,’’ he said.

“Our ability to contact people on the vessels depends upon the information that’s provided to us from the ship’s manifest.

“If wherever someone makes a slight error in a telephone number and leaves out a digit, it can be very difficult to get in direct contact with them.”

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It comes as Australian Defence Force personnel have been deployed as contact tracing support teams to help NSW Health officials track down passengers who are unaccounted for.

Dr Veitch would not be drawn on a question about the decision of New South Wales authorities to allow passengers and crew to disembark the Ruby Princess.

But Dr Veitch said NSW had been employing significant measures to try and reduce the risk of coronavirus infection on ships.

However, he said there was no availability of tests on cruise ships to test for coronavirus “there and then”.

How many in self-isolation?

The State Government last week announced that those caught flouting self-isolation rules could be penalised — with fines of up to $16,800 or six months in prison applying.

But Dr Veitch said people could be trusted to meet self-isolation requirements and said most people were doing the right thing.

“This is a little bit like vaccination, and we often spend a lot of time focusing on the people who don’t vaccinate,’’ he said.

“In fact, 95 per cent or so of people in Tasmania do not get their children fully vaccinated on time, and I think it’s very important to concentrate on the positive.”