Health authorities in New South Wales have confirmed Australia’s eighth COVID-19 death. A female in her 70s, who was among the first group of people who had been infected on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
There have been 133 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 aboard the cruise ship, which docked in Sydney last year. Of those 133, 107 are from NSW, and 26 are from interstate. The passenger is the seventh person to die from the virus in NSW, and the eighth nationwide. The other fatality was in Perth.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been 1,895 recorded cases across Australia. Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory have all pledged to close their borders to domestic travellers.
There has been a widespread backlash pertaining to why the almost 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark the ship at Sydney Harbour, despite showing key symptoms of COVID-19. The Ruby Princess has been the biggest single source of infections in Australia.
