Cruise ships return to Australia after two-year ban as COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high

Cruise ships are making a return to Australia's ports after a two-year absence triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voyager of the Seas was one of the last cruise ships to dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney before their arrival was banned as a result of the pandemic. Source: AAP / Sergi Reboredo/Sipa USA

Australian authorities are lifting a ban on cruise liners that has been in place since March 2020 as Australia's COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high.

The country recorded a total of nine COVID-19-related deaths on Sunday, with six people dying in New South Wales, two dying in Victoria, and one life lost in Western Australia, which also reported seven historical deaths.

Meanwhile, New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland have outlined testing and vaccination requirements for passengers and crew in preparation for the ships to return.

However, Tasmania is still reviewing whether such a move is safe for the island state.

Peak body, Cruise Lines International Association Australia says the lifting of the ban will be marked by "a carefully managed resumption of operations" in a sector that previously supported more than 18,000 jobs.

The first international ship scheduled to arrive, P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer, will sail into Sydney Harbour on Monday morning in readiness for its return to service on 31 May.

It will be followed at the end of the month by Ponant's Le Laperouse, which will begin operations between Darwin and Broome on 28 April, joining local operators in time for the important Kimberley season.

"More than a million Australians took an ocean cruise every year before the pandemic and we now have an opportunity to return to sailing and revive an industry that was worth more than $5 billion annually to the Australian economy," Cruise Lines Australasian managing director Joel Katz said.

"While no setting is immune from COVID-19, the cruise industry's new protocols provide among the highest possible levels of prevention, detection, and mitigation," he added.

Pre-flight testing for international arrivals scrapped

From 18 April, international travellers will no longer need to undertake a COVID-19 test before their flight to Australia due to the expiration of the federal government's Biosecurity Emergency Determination.

Travellers boarding flights to Australia will still need to be double-vaccinated and must wear masks on the flight.

Mr Hunt said he is confident any outbreaks of COVID-19 can be managed.

"We're well prepared. Our health system is strong," he told Channel Seven on Sunday. "We have the new treatments, Molnupiravir and Paxlovid, which are making a difference. We have the vaccination."

"And so I'm so proud of how Australians have dealt with this. But this is about moving forwards safely - and with confidence."

The vaccination coverage for the first dose and second dose is at more than 95 per cent for those aged 16 years and over.

The third dose coverage is at 69 per cent.

More than 32,000 COVID cases in the last 24 hours

Across the country, 32,067 COVID cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

NSW had the highest number of infections (9,725), followed by Victoria (8,153), WA (5,112), Queensland (4,850), SA (2,675), Tasmania (1,212) and the Northern Territory (340).

The death toll from the virus in the last 24 hours is 17, including eight deaths in WA, six in NSW, two in Victoria and one in Tasmania.

Nationally, there are 3,076 people in hospital, including 137 people in intensive care.

On Saturday, more than 41,000 new cases and 35 deaths were reported across Australia, while net hospital admissions and those to intensive care were both up slightly.

More MPs take time off campaigning due to COVID

Meanwhile, Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen has been sidelined from the federal election campaign trail after testing positive to the virus.

"I was looking forward to a few days campaigning in regional Queensland and Brisbane but it isn't to be," he tweeted on Saturday.

Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews also contracted the virus last week.

Elsewhere, Health Victoria is monitoring the new BA.4 or BA.5 Omicron variant after samples were confirmed in a catchment at Tullamarine, north of Melbourne.

The sub-variant has been recently detected in a small number of cases in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The World Health Organization says there are no known significant epidemiological differences between the new strain and the more dominant BA.2, and there is no cause for alarm.