Cruising

Not so long ago, we were watching Cruising with Jane MacDonald and enjoying her infectious enthusiasm and broad Yorkshire accent. Now these huge floating palaces have become a time bomb waiting to go off. There are two off the coast of Fremantle and another the Vasco da Gama expected tomorrow. Only the latter has Australian citizens on board and they will be sent for quarantine to Rottnest Island. We’d like the other two to go on their way to Europe; take on fuel and supplies and just go. Our borders are closed so this is quite a moral dilemma for the government. One ship has 7 infected people on board.

This is in the light of what happened in Sydney, as a Labour Senator wrote in an opinion piece:

Kristina Keneally:

We have worked with the government to support their health messaging even as we have called for more to be done and more to be done more quickly. But when we look back at this coronavirus crisis, we will see that the Ruby Princess cruise ship is a tipping point. Let’s understand what this one ship has brought to Australia’s shores. We have now 133 passengers and counting from the Ruby Princess cruise ship that have tested positive for coronavirus. The Ruby Princess cruise ship coronavirus cases account for 10% of the cases in New South Wales and, quite tragically, there has already been one death.
Now, on the 15th of March, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced to the Australian public and I quote, “The Australian government will also ban cruise ships from foreign ports arriving at Australian ports.” Those were the prime minister’s words. 
He looked the nation in the eye and said there will be no more cruise ships. Except there was. There was another cruise ship – the Ruby Princess. It disembarked 2,700 people just four days after the prime minister made that statement. Just four days later, 2,700 people disembarked that cruise ship and now we have seen the disastrous results. As I said, 133 passengers and counting already tested positive. And as these people got off these cruise ships, they spread right across the country.
They went into taxis and public transport. They took domestic flights, they interacted with friends and neighbours They went to shops. Yes, they were directed to self-isolate but they were allowed to travel freely across the country. It is gobsmacking that we are in this circumstance today.

It appears that one quarter of all Coronavirus cases in Western Australia have originated on cruise ships.  It seemed like a good idea for a relaxing holiday, with no packing and unpacking. When the Vasco da Gama set off from Fremantle, the trip was heavily discounted and many hopped on board to take advantage. It was a really good bargain, they thought!