Norwegian Jewel cruise ship with more than 2,000 people on board is placed into lockdown in Sydney Harbour as a passenger is tested for the deadly coronavirus

  • Woman in her 50s is being tested for coronavirus while attempting to board ship
  • The cruise ship, the Norwegian Jewel, arrived in Sydney on Friday morning
  • As it docked, paramedics arrived the passenger terminal at Circular Quay 
  • NSW Health said the passenger was being screened as a precaution 
  • Were you on the Norwegian Jewel? Email: tips@dailymail.com

By Kelsey Wilkie For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

A woman is being tested for the deadly coronavirus after attempting to board a cruise ship in Sydney.

Paramedics were called to the international passenger terminal at Circular Quay shortly before 7.30am on Friday as the ship, the Norwegian Jewel, docked.

The vessel arrived in Sydney after a 10-day tour of New Zealand. It is scheduled to make its way to Melbourne on Saturday. 

It is understood the a woman in her 50s was taken to hospital as she appeared to be suffering respiratory illness.

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The ship, Norwegian Jewel, arrived in Sydney on Friday morning after a 10-day tour of New Zealand

A woman wearing a face mask seen near the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday

A woman wearing a face mask seen near the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday

It is understood passengers were in lockdown for 45 minutes before being allowed to disembark the vessel at 9am on Friday. 

The 294-metre ship has a guest capacity of 2376 people and 1060 crew.

NSW Health said the woman was being screened as a precaution.  

A spokeswoman for the cruise company said no one on board was suffering from respiratory issues. 

She said a few guests on board had experienced a stomach-related illness.

'To mitigate any impact of this rare occurrence, we implemented stringent sanitation procedures.

'As such a thorough inspection and rigorous cleaning and disinfection of the ship and terminal were conducted.'

Australia currently has 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus while 11 Australians are among 65 newly-confirmed cases aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama in Japan.

A member of crew cleaning a hand rail on board the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship which is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday

A member of crew cleaning a hand rail on board the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship which is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney on Friday

People seen near the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney

People seen near the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is moored at Circular Quay in Sydney

An Australian tourist on board Diamond Princess, Bianca D'Silva, called the ship a 'floating prison'.

She was separated from her family and placed into quarantine after contracting the virus. 

Ms D'Silva said she started feeling ill while all passengers were cooped up in their cabins for a week during the outbreak.  

'I got a lot of headaches initially, when I was told we were quarantined, I started feeling hot with a fever,' she said.

'But other than that I feel fine … it just feels like I have a cold.'

The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January. 

The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency. 

Paramedics were called to the international passenger terminal at Circular Quay shortly before 7.30am on Friday as the ship, the Norwegian Jewel docked 

Saturday will mark two weeks since Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a temporary 14 day ban on foreign travellers who have left or passed through mainland China from arriving on our shores.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned the travel ban will likely be extended as the worldwide death toll surges towards 1000.

Mr Hunt added the government acted on the best medical advice to implement the ban.

'Ultimately, our job … our responsibil­ity, is to provide protection and national health security for the Australian people,' he said.

'They've been difficult decis­ions but made on the basis of the medical advice and we'll implemen­t the medical advice.'

The Government admits the ban has taken a toll on the tourism industry, which is losing an estimated $1billion a week.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health and Norwegian Cruise Line for comment. 

AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 

January 25

  • Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.
  • Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.
  • They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition.

January 27 

  • A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.
  • The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.
  • She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital.

VICTORIA: 4

January 25

  • A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.
  • The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.
  • He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29

  • A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.
  • He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. 
  •  The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home.

January 30

  • A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus. 
  •  She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.
  • She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.          

    February 1

    • A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus

     QUEENSLAND: 5

    January 29

    • Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus.
    • He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

    January 30

    • A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.  

    February 4

    • An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from    

    February 5  

    • The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast

    February 6

    • A 37-year-old woman has been diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27

    SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2

    February 1

    • A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

    CHINA: 2

    January 30

    • Two Australians have been confirmed as having the virus in Wuhan itself. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province.
    • Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. 

    JAPAN: 4   

    February 10 

    • Four Australians are among 65 newly-confirmed coronavirus cases aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama.
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    Cruise ship Norwegian Jewel placed into lockdown in Sydney as a passenger is tested for coronavirus

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