A cruise ship suspected of potentially carrying hundreds of passengers positive for COVID-19 docked in Sydney this morning.
The Celebrity Eclipse carries around 3000 people.
Around half are suspected of carrying the virus, according to early reports.
The Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship has docked in Sydney, carrying up to 1,500 passengers with COVID-19. (9 News)
However, NSW Health classifies the ship as a “level two” site of infection, meaning there are between 30 and 99 infections per 1000 passengers.
This means that even though the ship’s staffing and resources have been affected by the cases on board, it can maintain “critical services”.
The ship has just completed a voyage to New Zealand and has docked at the overseas passenger terminal at Circular Quay.
It comes as hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to rise across the country.
The “fourth wave” of the disease has taken hold in the community and cases are rising, with some experts calling for the reintroduction of mask mandates.
Authorities have so far refrained from imposing further mandates, but have recommended that people follow masking and social distancing protocols.
The fourth wave subvariants have been dubbed the “grandchildren of Omicron” and are not believed to be any more deadly than the previous waves.
However, infection rates are increasing.
Two other ships arriving in Sydney today, Quantum of the Seas and Pacific Adventure, are “level 1” cases, meaning there is COVID-19 on board, but only in low amounts.
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