‘LETHAL CONSEQUENCES’

Passengers of 2020 COVID Outbreak on Ruby Princess Win Court Battle

A class action lawsuit found the cruise company, Carnival Australia, negligent over the Ruby Princess voyage in 2020.

The passengers of a cruise that became riddled with COVID-19 at the beginning of the outbreak won a lawsuit Tuesday with a judge ruling the cruise line Carnival misled the public and was even negligent over the 2020 Ruby Princess voyage. Of the approximately 2,600 passengers on board the horror trip from Sydney, Australia, in March that year, more than 660 people tested positive to the virus, while 28 deaths have also been linked to the virus cluster. According to ABC News, Justice Angus Stewart ruled Carnival negligent in a number of areas regarding passenger safety and misled its customers in the lead up the cruise, claiming it was “reasonably safe” to travel as COVID began to cross borders. “I have found that before the embarkation of passengers on the Ruby Princess for the cruise in question, the respondents knew or ought to have known about the heightened risk of coronavirus infection on the vessel, and its potentially lethal consequences,” the judge said, citing outbreaks on two ships owned by the company one month earlier. “The pandemic was a difficult time in Australia's history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected,” a Carnival Australia spokesperson said. No damages for personal injury were rewarded to the led plaintiff in the case however she was awarded $4,400 plus interest for out of pocket medical expenses.