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- A crew member of international cargo ship Allegra, docked at Kwinana Bulk Jetty in WA, has tested positive for COVID-19
- The man, believed to be in his 20s, left the ship on Sunday night after complaining about symptoms unrelated to the coronavirus
- He was taken to hospital by an ambulance under police escort, where he tested positive for the virus
- All COVID-19 protocols were followed from when the man left the ship, so there is a “very low” threat to WA residents, according to Premier Mark McGowan
- The man is now in hotel quarantine
- The remaining 22 crew members have shown no symptoms, and the Premier has expressed his desire for the ship to depart from WA as soon as possible
A crew member of international cargo ship Allegra, docked at Kwinana Bulk Jetty in WA, has tested positive for COVID-19.
The man, believed to be in his 20s, left the ship on Sunday night after complaining of illness symptoms unrelated to the coronavirus.
All COVID-19 protocols were allegedly followed from when the man left the ship and was driven to a hospital by an ambulance under police escort.
As such, there is a “very low” threat to WA residents, according to Premier Mark McGowan.
The Premier said the crew member fell sick on Sunday and returned “weak” positive COVID-19 test while in hospital. A later test confirmed his positive diagnosis.
The man is now in hotel quarantine.
The other 22 crew members of the cargo ship have not shown any symptoms of the virus, and all currently remain on board.
The ship is allegedly loaded with urea and was ready to depart for Malaysia last night, but never left the port.
Given the rest of the crew members are healthy, Premier McGowan said it was of the state government’s “very, very strong view” that the ship should set sail as soon as possible.
“We are expressing to the Commonwealth Government that we’d like the ship to sail as soon as possible,” the Premier said.
“The crew are healthy, the ship is ready to go. It reduces the pressure on Western Australia if the ship sails immediately.”
Meetings are being held today between the state and federal governments to decide what happens with the ship.
Allegra is believed to have left a Russian port just over a month ago, but last docked at the Maldives in mid-May.
