A cruise ship suspected of carrying up to 1,500 passengers positive for COVID-19 will dock in Sydney this morning.
The Celebrity Eclipse is carrying about 3,000 people, about half of whom are believed to be carriers of the virus.
The ship has just completed a voyage to New Zealand and will arrive at White Bay Harbor in Sydney’s Inner West.
The Celebrity Eclipse is carrying about 1,500 cases of COVID-19. (AP)
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.
The New South Wales government has rated the Celebrity Eclipse as a “level two” COVID-19 cruise ship.
This means that even though the ship’s staffing and resources have been affected by the cases on board, it can maintain “critical services”.
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.
The subvariants and mutations of COVID-19