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A 1929 Ruby Princess prequel The Aorangi quarantine incident
The COVID-19 crisis reminded Australians of both the effectiveness and the frailties of quarantine. Sometimes the system slips up, as Dr Peter Hobbins reveals in a historical precedent to the Ruby Princess episode of 2020.
PICTURE THIS. A huge ship sails into Sydney Harbour with potential cases of a highly infectious disease aboard. Despite official precautions, the passengers are not quarantined and patients incubating the illness disembark. Many journey on to their home states, mingling with the local community until tell-tale symptoms emerge. Amid frantic attempts to trace the travellers across the country, Australia’s quarantine credentials are challenged and the public demands an explanation. The story certainly sounds familiar to anyone who followed the Ruby Princess fiasco of March 2020. A Special Commission of Inquiry concluded that health officials responsible for managing the cruise ship’s arrival ‘were diligent, and properly organised’, but ‘despite the best efforts of all, some serious mistakes were made’.1
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Signals 134 Autumn 2021
