Ruby Princess made several stops in NZ in March last year, infecting 24 people. Overall, 700-plus cases and 28 deaths were linked to an outbreak onboard.
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“Probably the vast majority,” Professor Gilbert said. “Letting them off was the right thing, but it could have been done in a much more controlled way.”
This would have involved testing all symptomatic travellers and receiving their results before letting them off, and avoiding the overcrowding that occurred in the terminal. But even then the process would have been tricky, since hotel quarantine had not been set up.
“The first issue was whether the ship should have been allowed to sail in the first place. I’m sure the people who were blamed in the end have suffered immeasurably as a result, personally and professionally, which I think in a way is pretty unfair. I think it was a system that wasn’t ready and didn’t know enough.”