That passenger, aged in her 70s, has now died from coronavirus while the number of people from the cruise to test positive is at 133 and counting. They have dispersed through NSW, Tasmania, the ACT, Western Australia and as far away as the United States, in what might be Australia's first instance of exporting the virus overseas. The Ruby Princess has spawned more cases than some entire states. "When we got off, none of us were aware there was anyone on the ship who had symptoms, we were not aware there was a suspected case of COVID-19 and not until we saw people stretchered off into an ambulance did we have any idea that we were possibly exposed to the virus," Ms Dixon-Hughes said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The passengers are angry. The states that imported the cases are aghast. And authorities at every level of government are distancing themselves from the decision to allow 2700 people off the ship when 13 were awaiting the results of coronavirus tests. It was up to the states to manage the arrival of cruise ships, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on the weekend.

"NSW is now applying those conditions and I thank them for accepting the advice of the Border Force Commissioner, who rang to ensure they are fully aware of their responsibilities," Mr Hunt said. His office has declined to say which conditions NSW was not previously applying. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard countered that his state had gone beyond the protocols issued by the federal government, which allow a ship to continue to voyage while samples are being tested. But he conceded, "with the benefit of hindsight", passengers should not have been let off the ship. "Personally, I think the federal guidance is very lacking in appropriate directions," he said yesterday. "But I understand that everyday everybody is just trying to keep up with fast changing circumstances." His Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, said NSW Health acted swiftly as soon as it became known that passengers tested positive, but until that point there was nothing to indicate the ship was anything other than low risk. Cruise ships always had some level of respiratory illness, she said.

"There was no evidence that coronavirus was on the cruise ship or we would certainly have acted in a different way," she said. The Ruby Princess departed Sydney on March 8 bound for New Zealand. At that time concerns about coronavirus were growing but the rush on supermarkets was unthinkable and toilet paper hoarding was still in its nascency. Trevor Spencer, 75, and his wife Julie Spencer, 71, with their luggage after disembarking from the Ruby Princess. Credit:Kate Geraghty Julie Spencer, who was taking the tour with her husband, Trevor, felt they were safer in the isolation of a cruise ship than they would be at home, news of which their captain was constantly updating for them. "Our state of mind was, 'We're going on a holiday, make sure you wash your hands, be very cautious,'" Mrs Spencer said. "We were all laughing about the toilet paper situation. That was an ongoing joke."

Loading The ship docked at Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Akaroa and, by the time it arrived in Wellington on March 14, several passengers were reporting flu-like symptoms. Five had tests that returned negative. According to a statement from Carnival Australia, the medical team isolated passengers who reported flu-like symptoms and reported them to NSW Health, which asked for swabs to be taken. Thirteen passengers were swabbed, though with no testing facilities on board they would have to wait until the ship docked in Sydney for the swabs to be analysed. But when the ship reached Napier on March 15, the captain announced that the rest of the itinerary would be scrapped and the ship would return to Sydney immediately.

Loading New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had announced the 14-day isolation period for international arrivals a day earlier and it was due to take effect that night. Some passengers, including New Zealand nationals, wanted to disembark at Auckland and return home by plane but this was kiboshed by the captain. There was no real protest. "The cruise director said he couldn't believe how well everyone was handling everything," Mrs Spencer said. "He kept saying, 'I don't believe I've ever travelled with such a happy bunch of people.'" They are not happy now. Ms Dixon-Hughes said that, although the passengers had been warned to expect health checks to be conducted, these never took place and nobody took their temperature nor asked about their health when they disembarked. She is now suspicious about the speed with which they were unloaded from the boat.

Loading "Who rushed us out that fast?" she said. "Was it the Health Department or the cruise liner? Their experience after the Diamond Princess [where 700 passengers contracted coronavirus after the ship was refused entry to Japan] was to get people off as fast as possible, ask them to self-isolate and it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Each passenger was told to isolate for 14 days in accordance with the new protocols for international travellers. By the time they learnt four passengers had tested positive for coronavirus, a full day later, many passengers had travelled back to their home towns unknowingly afflicted by the virus. One passenger was a resident at the Uniting Arrunga aged-care home in Sydney's north-western suburbs. The facility was only told the resident was on the ship when NSW Health officials asked that they self-isolate for a fortnight. The Ruby Princess now accounts for one in eight of the 818 coronavirus cases in NSW, and 26 cases interstate. The Herald can reveal a woman who travelled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to join the Ruby Princess has since tested positive to coronavirus.

Marjorie Willardson said she and her husband had raised concerns with two passenger service representatives, expressing that they felt the cruise "should not be continuing", but they were told all was well. In an email to Princess Cruises, Mrs Willardson said its crew had assured her "we are taking all precautions and our passengers [are] completely safe on the ship". Mrs Willardson told a crew member that she believed the cruise was "very unsafe". "Large groups are meeting together in concerts, eating areas and on crowded bus tours. The people coughing and sneezing all around us," she said. "However the cruise just kept cruising as if nothing was going on around us. It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it." Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is citing the Ruby Princess as the reason he will not allow a cruise ship full of sick passengers off the coast of Fremantle to disembark. "I will not allow what happened in Sydney to happen here," he said.