Ruby Princess passengers who broke isolation could be responsible for virus hotspot
Two groups of Sydney locals may be responsible for super spreading COVID-19 after disembarking from the Ruby Princess cruise and not complying with self-isolation orders.
Residents in Girraween, west of the city, dobbed in the returned travellers to Cumberland councillor Suman Saha after seeing them flouting coronavirus restrictions after arriving home on March 19.
Witnesses reported the cruise passengers left their homes on several occasions while they were supposed to be complying with a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
During trips outside of their home, they reportedly visited Woolworths Wentworthville and Coles at Westmead, during which Mr Saha told Yahoo News Australia they may have spread the deadly virus.
The groups reportedly included a couple in their 40s, and a set of parents in their 40s with two children - all who were understood to have tested positive to COVID-19.
“What I hear is that at least two families from the Ruby Princess were affected by COVID-19 but their symptoms were not that great, so they didn’t know that they had this virus,” Mr Saha said.
He said he is not sure how long the passengers had been home before they were tested, and ultimately told they were infectious with the virus.
“I think the information given to them was not that clear at that point in time - there were no hard and fast rules saying they had to quarantine for 14 days and there was no one policing them,” Mr Saha said.
He said these passengers and other residents, including health workers, grocery shopping while unknowingly infectious may be why there has been increased cases in his council area.
There are now 66 cases of the virus in the Cumberland council area, and 44 in the nearby Parramatta local district.
Of the 69 people to have died in Australia from the disease, 19 were passengers on the Ruby Princess.
Having now become part of a police investigation, more than 5600 people will be sent online questionnaires by NSW Police on what they saw and heard onboard the ill-fated cruise.
NSW’s total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 2,936, after 29 new cases were confirmed on Friday, with a seven-week-old baby boy among the new cases.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
