COVID CREW

Link to Melbourne case postpones Spirit sailings

THE Spirit of Tasmania’s Friday night sailings were postponed after crew members were identified to be close contacts of a positive Covid-19 case in Melbourne.

The department of health said 10 crew were exposed to an infectious case, a TT-line contractor, and were removed from the ship and sent to hotel quarantine, where they will undergo Covid testing.

The rest of the crew are secondary contacts and have been assessed as low risk. They’ll remain on board and will be tested on Saturday morning.

Deputy director of public health Dr Julie Graham said no positive case had been identified in Tasmania and there was no risk to passengers.