Three crew from Ruby Princess have been taken to Sydney NSW's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with serious Coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms. The medevac operation was conducted by NSW ambulance service and water police in order to evacuate the ill crew from the cruise ship (currently anchored off the coast).
The non-Australian crew have been hospitalized, one of them in critical condition. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told reporters that anyone who had to come off came off at his approval. Three people who needed medical attention were all under health care at the moment. The federal government issued notices that any cruise ships in Australian waters needed to return to their departure port.
Ruby Princess was allowed to disembark last week despite a number of COVID-19 tests pending. On Saturday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly announced that there had been 200 COVID-19 cases linked to Ruby Princess and cruise ships accounted for a total of 496 of the coronavirus cases in Australia.
One of the other problematic vessels has been Phoenix Reisen's Artania, docked in Port Fremantle. The Western Australian government said another 29 people on the German ship had tested positive to COVID-19. This brings the total number of infected travellers and crew members on board to 41.
For other Ruby Princess accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.