A NSW Health physician says the department decided not to wait for COVID-19 swab results before allowing the Ruby Princess to disembark because passengers needed to catch flights.
Ruby Princess passengers were allowed to disembark despite several people on board being tested for coronavirusAt least 22 people on the ship have since died from coronavirus
Dr Tobin was pressed on why that risk was taken by public health administrators, given the inconvenience to passengers of waiting for the results would have been a matter of six hours or so.Commissioner Bret Walker SC said it could not have been about money, nor the commercial interests of cruise ships.
The Ruby Princess went on to become Australia's largest single source of coronavirus infections and has been linked to at least 22 deaths. But he also conceded little was done to change the apparent tolerance of ships flouting the recommendations.Download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest on how the pandemic is impacting the world
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