Karl Stefanovic in clash with whingeing cruise ship passenger who slammed the government for putting her up in an 'appalling and dirty' taxpayer-funded quarantine hotel - despite being rescued from South America
- On Sunday, 80 Australians were flown home from the coronavirus-riddled cruise
- More than 100 of the Greg Mortimer's passengers were infected with COVID-19
- Citizens are now starting their 14-day isolation in a Melbourne hotel room
- But one woman has slammed the quarantine conditions as 'appalling and dirty'
- She is one of hundreds of Australian travellers enduring tax-payer funded stays
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
An Australian cruise ship passenger who was rescued from a ship riddled with coronavirus has slammed the 'appalling' conditions in her quarantine hotel.
Jan Richards got into a tense discussion with Today host Karl Stefanovic as she bemoaned the 14-day tax-payer funded stay in Melbourne.
She had been a passenger on the Greg Mortimer cruise ship, which spent two weeks stranded off the coast of South America.
The Australian government repatriated its citizens on Monday and brought them to safety, despite 128 of the ship's 217 passengers testing positive for COVID-19.
Despite this, Ms Richards said she felt 'let down' by the government, and said she was treated better in Uruguay.
The Greg Mortimer (pictured) departed on March 15 on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia, but was stuck off the coast of Uruguay for two weeks because of a COVID-19 outbreak
'I feel very let down by our government,' she said on Tuesday morning's show.
'I didn't get the same care and compassion as I received when we were in Uruguay.
'We're now stuck in this hotel. I have no real idea of what my expectations was other than I thought it would be clean and we would have access to fresh air.
'Well, the hotel rooms are dirty, I mean really dirty. We have no access to fresh air.
'I'm not expecting five-star. I do expect some level of compassion from our own government. It's been a nightmare of a journey.'
While Stefanovic said he 'wholeheartedly sympathised' with her ordeal, the action had to be taken to protect other Australians from potential harm.
Passengers from the coronavirus-riddled Greg Mortimer cruise ship took this flight from Montevideo to Melbourne (pictured on Saturday) over the weekend
'You do get that, don't you?' he asked her.
'One hundred per cent,' Ms Richards replied.
'Not one of us would ever want to pass this on to anybody. But I do think we should be treated like Australians and be given a clean environment.
'No one is asking for five-star. We expected to do this. We want to do this. We certainly don't want to pass it on to anybody. But this treatment is appalling.'
The plane, filled with coronavirus-infected passengers landed in Melbourne on Sunday morning after leaving Uruguay.
The plane carrying 112 Australian and New Zealand passengers touched down at Tullamarine Airport shortly before 7am.
Jan Richards (pictured, right) got into a tense discussion with Today host Karl Stefanovic (left) as she bemoaned the 14-day tax-payer funded stay in Melbourne.
The Greg Mortimer cruise ship is seen off the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, on April 7 (pictured)
Around 80 coronavirus-infected Australians were on board the 16 hour mercy flight.
'We were stuck in a country where the people were kind and compassionate, and we couldn't have asked for more help,' she went on.
'On the trip from the boat to the plane, at 11.30 at night, the streets were lined with people with banners and flags, waving and clapping us goodbye.
'It was very emotional'.
Unlike the passengers of the Ruby Princess - who were allowed to walk freely onto Australian shores without testing or imposed quarantine - medical staff checked all travellers from the Greg Mortimer before they left the plane.
A handful of passengers were given the all-clear to disembark from the front of the plane.
They were seen making their way towards a fleet of waiting Sky buses, who will transport them to quarantine hotels, where they will remain for the next 14 days.
Passengers began disembarking via the front of the plane within an hour of touching down in Melbourne on Sunday (pictured)
Passengers given the all clear to disembark the plane collected their luggage before heading towards a fleet of buses (pictured) on Sunday
Those who showed any type of coronavirus symptoms were taken to hospital by a fleet of ambulances waiting on the runway.
A charter plane then transported the small group of New Zealanders on board home, who also went into quarantine.
The cruise, ran by Aurora Expeditions, set sail four days after the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a pandemic.
Despite the roughly $35,000 cost, the company is not offering refunds or any money back.
'They made a decision on commercial basis,' Ms Richards said.
'We had to pay all upfront 90 days before the cruise. The world was not the crazy place it is now.
The Ruby Princess arrived in Sydney on March 19 (pictured) and unloaded thousands of passengers without health checks. Several went onto test positive for coronavirus
'Quite a few of us rang the company to say, 'are you cancelling this trip?' We were all concerned.
'They said 'no'. Cancel (and) you lose 100 per cent of your money.'
The Today host then said the cruise company was '100 per cent' to blame.
'Some of these cruise ships, a small number have done the right thing,' he said.
'There have been others that blame lay squarely on them and they need to accept responsibility for that.
'They need to accept responsibility for the complaints you're making.'
