Face of Nation International : The four victims were all men, aged 91, 80, 76 and 61. NSW Health executive director of health protection Jeremy McAnulty said two of the men were treated at Westmead Hospital, one on the North Coast and the other at Hornsby Hospital.
Ten people have now died from contracting coronavirus on the Ruby Princess, which docked in Sydney on March 19. The ship, which had 2,647 passengers and 1,148 crew, has had 600 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 342 of which are in NSW. There have been no deaths among 11 cases of secondary transmission from the cruise ship.
Passengers were given the green light by NSW Health to depart the ship in March, despite receiving reports that multiple people on board had experienced flu-like symptoms. Dr McAnulty said his condolences went out to the men’s families.
“It just reinforces that message that the elderly and people with underlying diseases are most prone to severe complications, intensive care and death,” he said. NSW Police are probing the handling of the coronavirus-affected cruise ship.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has strongly defended the handling of the Ruby Princess disembarkation. “I have concern, as I said yesterday, that those who are our brightest and our finest and our most committed public health officials are in some way being diminished or criticised,” he said. “I think that they have done their best.”
The ship remains off the coast of Sydney, while some 250 crew members await test results for COVID-19. The deaths came as NSW recorded 87 new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to 8:00pm on Saturday, taking the statewide total to 2,580.
Of that total, 1,566 cases were acquired overseas. (Source: ABC News – Australia)
