MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – The report of a public inquiry into how passengers infected with coronavirus were allowed to disembark a cruise liner in Sydney in March, will be submitted on Friday. The disembarking led to a major outbreak of more than 600 cases and 20 fatalities.
It was the New South Wales government which initiated the investigation as to how 2,700 passengers from the Carnival Corp-owned Ruby Princess disembarked on March 17 sans proper screening for the infection.
This paved the way for more than 600 infections, which was the biggest outbreak in the country at that time.
The inquiry found that NSW officials marked the liner as “low risk” since it had only visited New Zealand. But some of the passengers had flown in from other countries, including the US.
The findings could pressure officials in the state and federal governments to owe responsibility for the lapse in handling the liner issue.
“The special commission will hand down its report later today and we will…see what they have to say. I’m sure they will touch on all of those issues,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Though the first wave has been brought under control, a second outbreak since June is causing concern with the rising number of cases and fatalities.
On Friday, the state of Victoria recorded 14 deaths, including a man in his 20s. It also witnessed 372 new cases.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field