Australia’s Federal Court has been informed that the tragic Ruby Princess trip, which resulted in the early deaths of 28 individuals from Covid-19, should never have left port.
The claim was made in the opening arguments of a class action lawsuit brought against Carnival PLC, the owners of the ship that left Sydney in the late evening of March 8, 2020, bound for New Zealand.
PM considering legal counsel on coronavirus cluster on cruise liner Ruby Princess
It is thought that 663 of the 1679 Australians carry the virus.
Due to the volume of cases, the ship eventually made a U-turn and was the site of odd events when it arrived at its destination on March 19.
As passengers exited the ship and boarded trains, buses, and even international planes to return home, crew members lined the gangway. Some passengers were visible coughing and sputtering.
READ MORE: Ruby Princess doctor on board: Passengers should never have been permitted to depart
Susan Karpik’s principal attorney, Ian Pike SC, said in his opening statements that the company knew the cruise was in danger due to a Covid outbreak but had not taken reasonable steps, such as thoroughly screening guests before disembarking or cancelling the voyage.
“What occurred was not an accident, it was something very likely to have occurred,” he said.
Pike claimed that in the weeks preceding the vacation, outbreaks had occurred on the two other ships in the company’s fleet, including 700 cases and seven fatalities on the famed Diamond Princess, which had sailed from Japan.
He claimed that the Ruby Princess, which had docked in Sydney on the morning of March 8 and had an epidemic in a previous voyage, as well.
READ MORE: A year has passed since the Ruby Princess cruise liner brought Covid-19 misery to Australia.
He claimed that as a result, the Ruby Princess lacked the medical equipment required to contain an outbreak.
Due to a worldwide scarcity, the crew had even run out of masks just one day into the voyage.
“They knew they didn’t have enough masks and shortly into the cruise they ran out,” Pike said.
He claimed that the business had tried unsuccessfully for weeks to acquire thermal cameras to find cases.
He declared, “This boat ought never to have set sail.”
It was careless to act in that way.
Pike claimed that despite being aware of the epidemic on the ship, the firm did not adequately protect guests while they were on the voyage.
There was no social isolation, everything went on as usual, and there wasn’t any effective quarantining.
The methods, he claimed, “fallen far short of what was expected.”
Very few, if any, persons stayed in quarantine for more than a few days.
After going on the vacation with her husband of 50 years, Henry, Susan Karpik later created Covid.
However, her husband was the one who was most noticeably impacted. He was put into an artificial coma for four weeks, and he still has a number of incapacitating ailments that necessitate his wife’s daily care.
The trial is scheduled to last four weeks but could spill into the new year..
The Ruby Princess cruise shouldn’t have left, the court said.
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