Spirit of Tasmania sailings departing from both Melbourne and Devonport were cancelled last night after a TT-Line contractor tested positive to COVID-19.
Key points:
- Overnight sailings of the Spirit of Tasmania in both directions were cancelled after a contractor tested positive to COVID-19
- Premier Peter Gutwein says 11 of the 17 primary contacts are in Tasmania
- Tasmania’s Public Health says there is no risk to the 60 Melbourne-bound passengers who were booked on last night’s crossing
Speaking on Saturday, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said 17 people were identified as close contacts of the infected person.
He said all of the close contacts were operational crew members, meaning they had no direct contact with passengers.
Mr Gutwein said 11 of the 17 primary contacts were in Tasmania.
“I can confirm, very pleasingly, that the 11 primary close contacts in Tasmania have now returned a negative result and will be quarantined for 14 days with further testing during this time,” Mr Gutwein said.
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)“If Delta gets loose here people will die and so I’m so very pleased we’re in the position we are today of being able to provide a positive outcome in terms of what occurred.”
Mr Gutwein said the incident served as another reminder for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“It is so important that Tasmanians get vaccinated as Delta will be here at some point in the future,” he said.
Mr Gutwein said all passengers had been allowed to disembark due to the low risk of the virus having spread on the ferry.
Testing underway for all 67 crew members
State health department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said testing was also being arranged for crew members on board the Spirit of Tasmania that remained docked in Devonport.
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)“Our testing teams have attended in full PPE, have boarded the ship under safety measures and protocols and we’ve arranged for the testing of the 67 crew,” she said.
“These crew are not primary contacts but we are undertaking that testing out of an abundance of caution.
“No passengers have been deemed to be of anything further than low risk and no testing is required for any passengers at this stage.”
No risk to 60 passengers onboard
In a statement released last night, Tasmania’s Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Julie Graham, said the remainder of the crew stayed on board the ship overnight and were tested “out of an abundance of caution”.
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)Dr Graham said there was no risk to the 60 passengers booked on last night’s sailing from Devonport because of onboard COVID-19 safety measures put in place by TT-Line.
“The passengers were informed of the decision to postpone the sailing and given the option to stay on board in their rooms overnight or to safely disembark the vessel,” she said.
She said no freight or private vehicles would be able to leave the ferry, due to safety reasons.
Last night’s sailing from Melbourne to Devonport departed but returned to port soon after.
“Vic Health is currently managing the impact of that decision on passengers and crew,” Dr Graham said.
Disruptions to freight
TT-Line CEO Bernard Dwyer said the delayed sailings overnight had caused disruptions to freight movements between Victoria and Tasmania.
“Our priority this morning was to discharge that freight so that could be moved onto Sea Road and Toll vessels for transfer,” he said.
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)Mr Dwyer said he was unable to comment on whether the affected crew members were vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We know there’s a high percentage of staff vaccinated,” he said.
“We can’t ask individuals, but we’ve got a very strong proactive vaccination campaign that we’ve been running internally in the company for a very long time.
“The COVID plan that we have in place on the vessels with mask wearing, with fogging of all cabins and all public spaces every day, and social distancing … is very good.
“To date, this has been the first issue in nearly 20 months of dealing with this.”
Tasmania’s border remains closed to travellers who have spent time in Victoria, New South Wales or the ACT.
Returning Tasmanians and travellers from other states can board the Spirit of Tasmania if they have transited through Victoria.
The Spirit of Tasmania will resume sailings from Sunday night.
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