The plagued Artania cruise ship is finally departing Western Australia after a three-week stay during which three people on board died of coronavirus.
The German liner began its journey from Fremantle back to Europe on Saturday afternoon, carrying 400 crew and 11 passengers.
It comes days after a 42-year-old crewman from the Philippines became the third person from the Artania to die in WA, taking the state's toll to seven.
"I'm sure every West Australian, like me, is very pleased to see it leave," Premier Mark McGowan told reporters.
WA recorded just one new local case of COVID-19 overnight, as well as two more cases from the Artania, taking the state's total to 544.
Of those,221 have been linked to cruise ships, including 81 from the Artania and 53 from the Ruby Princess.
"The cruise ship saga has been one of the most difficult issues that we have grappled with in WA," Mr McGowan said.
"There's no doubt we were facing a situation that could have easily turned into a major health crisis, one we would have lost control over and could have led to our hospitals being overrun with sick people from cruise ships."
Some 79 Artania crew members and 28 passengers remain in Perth. Eleven are in hospital, while the rest are in hotels, including the two newest recorded cases.
Most are expected to depart WA on Sunday on a charter flight arranged by the cruise ship company.
A female passenger was taken to hospital via ambulance on Saturday after medical experts determined she was not well enough to sail.
But a Department of Home Affairs spokesman said the nature of her illness had not been determined and it may not be coronavirus-related.
Mr McGowan said WA now had just 149 active cases and 33 COVID-19 patients in Perth hospitals, including six in intensive care.
The newest local case was a Rio Tinto contractor who tested positive after holidaying in Bali.
"Frankly, it's pretty selfish and irresponsible to have travelled to Bali in the circumstances we knew we were facing during the March period," the premier said.
Mr McGowan said Rio had screened 1600 workers using a finger-prick antibody test.
Just eight had been identified as having antibodies that could be linked to COVID-19, including the man who tested positive to the disease.
It's understood the Artania will make stops in Indonesia and the Philippines en route to Germany.
The ship's captain, Morten Hansen, said the crew member who died in a Perth hospital on Thursday had been with the company since 2006 and most recently served as a motorman, describing his passing as "heartbreaking".
Two other people from the Artania died last week, one a passenger aged in his 70s and the other a 69-year-old crewman.
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© AAP 2024
