Australian military helicopters to fly onto cruise ships to test passengers for coronavirus

SYDNEY - Military helicopters are set to be deployed to fly onto cruise ships in Australia to test passengers for the coronavirus as more than a dozen ships remained drifting off the coast or docked at ports, carrying an estimated 15,000 passengers.

The crackdown follows an incident in which a cruise ship, the Ruby Princess, docked in Sydney two weeks ago with 2,700 passengers, including 13 who had been tested for the virus but were awaiting results. The passengers were allowed to freely disembark without being tested. Carnival Cruises, which owns the Ruby Princess, insists the vessel must stay close to shore in case more crew members need to be taken to hospital.Australia, like other countries, is now grappling with the question of how to handle cruise ships, including several which arrived with infected passengers. Ships remain stranded off the coast across the country.

In Western Australia, the state government has faced a separate dilemma in dealing with a coronavirus-afflicted German-operated cruise ship, Artania, which is docked at Fremantle port. Forty-one infected passengers from the ship are now being treated at the state's hospitals. The Premier of Western Australia, Mr Mark McGowan, expressed concern that allowing the ship to stay would attract other cruise liners to the state's ports.

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