Australia launched a criminal investigation regarding a COVID-19 infected cruise ship which was allowed to dock in Sydney before releasing thousands of passengers directly into the community.
Ruby Princess berthed at Circular Quay on March 19, and over 600 confirmed cases of the virus have been linked to the ship, while 11 of them have subsequently died.
According to New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, questions would be raised into the transparency from crew members regarding the level of disease on board, as well as the actions of local government agencies in allowing the ship to dock.
As he explained, there is an exceptional amount of effort put in by ports to determine the true nature of the conditions on board, and even delayed the ships arrival until they were provided additional information.
Xinhua news agency reports that New South Wales (NSW) Homicide Squad’s Detective Chief Inspector Jason Dickinson is responsible to investigate the matter and thousands of passengers are expected to be interviewed as witnesses.
On April 6, Ruby Princess was allowed to temporarily berth at a port south of Sydney.
