‘Serious failures’ in Ruby fiasco
NSW Health made a serious mistake when rating the Ruby Princess cruise ship as a low COVID-19 risk, something a NSW inquiry ruled on Friday was “as inexplicable as it is unjustifiable”.
But in his final report on the scandal that has been linked to nearly 700 coronavirus infections and more than 28 deaths, Commissioner Bret Walker SC did not recommend anyone should be sacked.
Mr Walker said a NSW Health expert panel deemed the Ruby Princess a low biosecurity risk, allowing nearly 2700 people to leave the vessel at Circular Quay on March 19 without proper health checks.
That was despite pending coronavirus swabs, a decision he labelled “as inexplicable as it is unjustifiable” and “a serious mistake”.
Mr Walker stressed NSW Health made the operative decision to green light disembarkation, which was clumsily communicated to a federal Department of Agriculture biosecurity officer who granted the ship permission to dock.
“Neither the [Australian Border Force] nor any ABF officers played any part in the mishap,” he said.
He said it was “inexcusable” that NSW Health laboratory testing for the 15 coronavirus swabs was delayed because they were not flagged as a priority. They “should have been tested immediately”.
NSW Health workers did not board the ship to test sick guests while confining suspect cases to their cabins, something Mr Walker condemned as a “serious failure”.
He said the decision to allow passengers to travel interstate and internationally after disembarkation did not comply with state COVID-19 laws, and the government should have arranged suitable accommodation
NSW residents.
“Passengers were incorrectly advised by the ABF during the cruise that their 14-day period of self-isolation would commence from the date of departure from the last overseas port visited by the Ruby Princess, being Napier on 15 March,” Mr Walker said.
He said the cruise ship operator, Carnival, should have informed guests and crew there were suspect cases on board, and ordered them to isolate in their cabins.
Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein earlier this year identified the Ruby Princess as “ground zero” for an outbreak of coronavirus in the state, with several passengers returning home after their voyage. This included Maureen Dawes, above, whose partner Leonard Fisher tragically died in Royal Hobart Hospital after becoming infected with COVID-19 for all non