Papers related to the Ruby Princess cruise, 8-19 March 2020, and Covid-19, compiled by Maureen Holz, 2020

MLMSS 10528

fonds

2020

Textual Records, Ephemera, Photographs

9657981

0.32 meteres of textual material (1 folder) - typescript, printed

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, and was reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 31 December 2019. WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
Ruby Princess is a Crown-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises, a cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation. The ship became infamous in 2020, as the source of over 10% of Australia's early COVID-19 cases.
On 8 March 2020, Ruby Princess departed Sydney, Australia for a 13-night cruise around New Zealand. Intended ports of call were Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga, Auckland, and the Bay of Islands). The cruise was cut short on 15 March and Ruby Princess returned direct to Sydney from Napier. On 19 March 2020, the ship arrived back in Sydney, two days early from the New Zealand cruise, docking at 3am. The ship disembarked 2,700 passengers later that morning. The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard announced on 20 March 2020 that 13 of the people on the ship had been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and 3 of them were positive. New South Wales health authorities asked all passengers to go into self-isolation. It was announced on 24 March that one passenger had died and 133 on the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus. On 15 April, the NSW State Government announced a Special Commission of inquiry to investigate events surrounding the Ruby Princess. The Commission was headed by barrister Bret Walker for the New South Wales government. According to this enquiry the eventual death toll was at least 28, including eight from the United States.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Princess (accessed 29/04/2021) and Library correspondence file

1 folder of textual and graphic material related to the Ruby Princess cruise between Australia and New Zealand in March, 2020. The documents were collected by Maureen Holz and partner Alan Kennedy as passengers on the ship. The material includes documentation relating to booking the cruise and material distributed to cruise passengers throughout the voyage relating to the itinerary, shore excursions and other activities. This includes printed information distributed to passengers relating to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the developing concern about its transmission.

Documents include:
Brief typed account of experience on the Ruby Princess voyage, March 8-19, 2020, by Maureen Holz
Princess Cruises brochure cover and travel summary
Boarding passes
Welcome aboard and information card
Princess Patter daily newsletters, itinerary brochures and corona virus (Covid-19) health advisories, 10 March to 21 March 2020
Princess Cruises disembarkation information
Australian Department of Health Novel corona virus (Covid-19) information for international travellers (handed to exiting passengers)
Harari, Fiona (2020) 'Cabin fever: onboard the Ruby Princess', Weekend Australian, 1 May 2020
Photoraph of Alan Kennedy and Maureen Holz on arrival back in Sydney, 19 March 2020.

Copyright status:: In copyright – life of author(s) plus 70 years
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales