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The companies operating the Ruby Princess cruise ship have rejected allegations they were responsible for the 2020 Covid outbreak that led to the deaths of 28 people.
Charterer Carnival and shipowner Princess Cruise Lines are facing a class action in Australia’s federal court over the outbreak.
Travel agents report Australians’ interest in cruising increasing 40% each month since June, with one analyst describing it as ‘the Teflon market for travel’
On 16 September, Miami-based Oceania Cruises, a luxury culinary-focused cruise company that is a division of Norwegian Cruise Lines, set an all-time, single-day booking record. It was driven by the introduction of its newest ship, Vista, due to take its first passengers in April 2023. Nearly half the available inventory of Vista’s inaugural season was sold in one day. These were new cash bookings, 30% of which came from people booking with the company for the first time.
It’s hard to know what this means for Australia. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 1.34 million Australians took a cruise in 2018, one of the highest rates in the world by population, yet international travel is currently off limits.
Labor again calls on the Morrison government to apologise ‘for failing to stop the one boat that mattered’
An Australian Border Force officer who inspected the Ruby Princess mistakenly believed passengers with flu-like symptoms had tested negative to Covid-19 when they had in fact tested negative to the flu.
Ship was considered low risk as updated status preventing passengers from disembarking was not reflected on assessment form
A New South Wales public health official thinks he would have assessed the Ruby Princess as being a medium Covid-19 risk ahead of the ill-fated cruise ship’s arrival in Sydney, had he considered a guideline change during his assessment.
The ship was instead given a low-risk rating, with passengers allowed to disembark and disperse before testing revealed there had been Covid-19 cases on board.
Passengers on the ill-fated Ruby Princess cruise ship have been sent another warning from the New South Wales health department, that they could have been exposed to tuberculosis.
The Ruby Princess voyage that arrived in Sydney on 19 March is responsible for about 10% of all coronavirus infections in Australia, and the bungled management of the outbreak has sparked two separate inquiries.
Deputy CMO says there are ‘very serious risks’ from overcrowding as Victoria plans to lift lockdown rules and another Newmarch resident dies after testing negative. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia’s relationship with China is “not in a great place”.
Speaking to ABC TV this afternoon, Wong said the relationship would benefit from “consistency and discipline and leadership” from the prime minister and foreign minister rather than backbencher-led commentary.
Some Coalition backbenchers, including George Christensen and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, have been pushing for Australia to take a hard line in its relations with China. Wong also called on the government to provide detailed briefings to parliamentarians on how Australia is handling the China relationship:
I’ve said previously we need to think about the China relationship in 30-year terms, not in three-year terms. Unfortunately, there’s been a little too much from the Morrison government of a reflex to short-term domestic politics on this relationship and more broadly. And we would urge them to take a long-term position and a responsible position, and as much as possible a bipartisan position, when it comes to that relationship that’s in the national interests.
Cafes and restaurants in South Australia were open to sit-down customers today, for the first time in seven weeks. I say sit down, not sit-in, because customers have to dine alfresco. It’s limited to a maximum of 10 customers.
People will not be able to eat indoors at restaurants until June.
It won’t be worth it for many organisations. Some states have told us 10 indoor dining and the industry told us 10 wouldn’t be viable. Even 20 will make it very difficult, so we are trying to work through, with the industry, how we can get them back to being viable as quickly as possible. But we’ve got to do it in a safe way.