P&O Australia cruise liner Pacific Explorer is the first to make an Australian return since a ban triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Tug boats with water cannons form a guard of honour and escort the P&O Cruises Australia flagship Pacific Explorer is it enters Sydney Harbour.Pacific Explorer has sailed into Sydney Harbour, the first cruise ship to dock at an Australian port since the federal government's ban triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Peak body Cruise Lines International Association Australia says the lifting of the ban will be marked by "a carefully managed resumption of operations" in a sector that previously supported more than 18,000 jobs. "While no setting is immune from COVID-19, the cruise industry's new protocols provide among the highest possible levels of prevention, detection and mitigation."More than 32,000 new cases were reported across the nation on Sunday, along with 17 virus-related deaths, although seven of the eight announced by officials in Western Australia were historical.On Monday, NSW reported 11,166 new COVID-19 infections, with 1,576 people in hospital with the virus, 67 in ICU.