A Celebrity Cruises ship with hundreds of COVID-positive passengers docked in Sydney (NSW Australia), but a leading health expert said it was not a big cause for concern that they would spill out into the community.
Celebrity Eclipse ship had 3420 passengers and around half were estimated to have tested Coronavirus-positive.
The liner was ending a voyage to New Zealand and was due to dock at White Bay (Sydney's inner west) just after 6:30 am (NSW time/19:30 UTC) on Friday, December 9th.
About a month earlier, Majestic Princess arrived in Sydney Harbour with 800+ COVD cases.
The fact that so many cases were identified was a good thing, comparatively speaking, said Deakin University epidemiologist Catherine Bennett.
She said those were ~1500 cases that they knew about, and they would be advised to play it safe wear masks and isolate.
Bennett added they were not adding a lot to force the infection in the community because infection rates were already up. So long as the passengers were safely transported to places where they could isolate and recover, their impact would be minimal on the city.
Ms. Bennett said it introduced positive cases into the community but knowing their status made it more manageable.
For more Celebrity Eclipse incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.