A CRUISE ship that was diverted away from Newcastle due to an outbreak of COVID-19 on board has had five passengers taken to hospital after arriving at Port Melbourne.
The Grand Princess was meant to stop in Newcastle on Tuesday but the ship's operators decided to divert the vessel to its port of origin in Melbourne.
Princess Cruises said the decision had been made in consultation with NSW health authorities because the Hunter region was experiencing a rise in community transmission, putting increased demand on local hospitals and health services.
A woman in her 80s, a woman and man in their 60s and another patient were all taken to hospital in a stable condition; while another woman in her 80s suffering a medical condition was also hospitalised.
COVID-19 continues to spread in the Hunter, with more than 3500 new cases recorded in the past week.
The latest NSW respiratory report shows that in the week ending November 26, there were 46 people hospitalised with COVID-19 in Hunter New England, including three in intensive care.
There were nine deaths.
It takes the region's total tally of recorded COVID-19 cases to 383,272 this year.
Across NSW, there were "ongoing high levels of transmission" in the community, with 32,928 people diagnosed with COVID-19 - an increase of 15.2 per cent on the previous week.
State-wide, there were 25 COVID-19 deaths reported this week. Of these, six had not received three doses of vaccine. Three deaths were in people aged under 65 years. The report says that as of October 14, 2022, the mandatory reporting of positive rapid antigen tests in NSW was removed, and PCR testing rates have "almost halved" from what they were at the beginning of the Omicron BA.4/5 wave in June, 2022.
The changes in testing and reporting meant notification numbers "no longer" reflected the level of community transmission in the same way as earlier waves.
In the Hunter, 1907 COVID-19 cases were identified via PCR testing and another 1606 by rapid antigen tests.
Princess Cruises said a "small percentage" of the 2100 guests had the virus and would get home via private transport.
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