pacific dawn quarantined (Merger of all swine flu threads)

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Yes, we need some more footy team bonding activities to distract the media attention :)

 

Funny!:D:D

[thied]

I was just watching ten news brisbane, The reporter was standing at port side reporting all about the pacific dawn, saying all about the swine flu and bad it is, as she is talking and standing at port side implying the ship behind her was the pacific dawn and in fact the ship was the pacific sun , the ship starts to move away from port side ( the ship she was implying to be pacific dawn is the pacific sun leaving brisbane) how wrong can they can get funny realy that the ten news can get away with it, they think that i/we dont now the difference between the two ships.

[thied]

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/2009/20090527_01.html

New Swine Flu protocols for sea ports

 

Minister for Health, John Della Bosca, today announced NSW would upgrade its Swine Flu protocols for cruise liners who arrived in NSW waters.

 

The NSW approach to arriving cruise ships has been developed in consultation with the Commonwealth.

 

“When the Pacific Dawn arrived this week, its passengers had not been to any jurisdiction where Swine Flu was present and it was considered unlikely the virus was on the ship,” Mr Della Bosca said.

 

“The two children from the Pacific Dawn who have since tested positive for Swine Flu had not travelled overseas before boarding the ship, had no contact with affected countries, and were not considered to be at risk.

 

“An additional 16 people from the ship have since been confirmed to have Swine Flu. Six of these people are currently in Queensland.

 

“These people have been assessed by public health staff and placed into isolation.

 

“Further public health assessment of contacts of these passengers is now underway.

 

“We continue to encourage all travellers returning from affected countries or who were on board the Pacific Dawn cruise ship and who develop respiratory symptoms, such as cough, fever, or sore throat, to call their General Practitioner or Public Health Unit for advice, or to go to their local hospital emergency department for assessment.

 

“Under the new protocols developed by NSW Health and agreed by the Commonwealth, symptoms of flu on cruise ships will be treated as Swine Flu, pending testing to clear the individuals.

*****

“The Australian Health Protection Committee will meet this afternoon to consider a number of other proposals in relation to cruise ships,” he said.

Oz Cruise Club will monitor the results of this, as there are arrivals/departures for Dawn Princess & Pacific Dawn in Sydney late next week, potentially affecting a large number of members.

 

According to NSW Health, around 280 people are in isolation and 130 people are in quarantine because of Swine Flu.

 

NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said more than 1000 calls from the public and clinicians were handled by the NSW Health call centre yesterday (26 May 2009).

 

“A total of 126 specimens were tested for Swine Flu in NSW yesterday (26 May 2009) and about a further 200 specimens will be tested today,” Dr Chant said.

 

“As of today (27 May), 598 NSW residents have been assessed by public health experts for Swine Flu.

 

“Of these, 265 are current suspect cases and 315 have been released from public health follow-up after assessment and laboratory testing. Eighteen confirmed cases of H1N1 Influenza 09 (Swine Flu) have been identified in NSW.

 

“On 26 May 2009, 119 passengers were assessed at Sydney Airport. Of these, 21 passengers were referred to the Sydney Airport influenza clinic. Two passengers met the ‘suspect case’ definition and are awaiting test results,” Dr Chant said.

 

Source: NSW Health Minister

[LuckiePuris]

When my husband and I had the flu ( not just a head cold) a few years ago we were both so sick we could hardly life our heads off the bed. We could not speak to each other let alone speak to the media. We were both in our late fifties and we had to have my mother to come and look after us. We had a headache that was so bad we thought we were going to die. We aren't at all worried about catching the swine flu. We are still looking forward to our wonderful half way around the world cruise and sei la vie. We could get hit by a bus here or run over by some drunk driver etc. etc. etc.

 

live life to the full. - Janet:D;):):cool:

 

Oh wow Janet...you really do have the cruise of a lifetime coming up!!

 

Hope you have a fantastic cruise, and take lots of amazing photos :)

[Drelix]

I have just been readin over the posts and thinking that you cant really stop swine flu all together at the moment.

 

I also dont see why people are that worried about the cruisers like yes be concerned but you could be walkin down the street tommrow and come incontact with swine flu and could have it in a few days time.

 

 

Just do the manners thigns and put hand over mouth while coffing and snezing and that thats pretty much all you can do .

 

Dont take me wrong yes i am worried over it a bit but there is not much people can do at the moment.

[The_Big_M]

Maybe P & O could have turned all the incoming passengers away and disappointed a lot of people, but what if there hadn't been any cases of swine flu in the previous cruise?

 

It didn't take much longer to do the analysis so it would have been a simple matter to wait for the results. Spend a couple of hours, instead of locking everyone in for a couple of weeks. Once they've let everyone board and sail off as they have, there's no turning back. The damage is done. In any risk situation, you're best off keeping your options open while you can instead of acting rashly.

 

I haven't seen anybody say they should have cancelled the cruise straight away.

[The_Big_M]

Personally, I think swine flu is equivalent to Y2K

 

You mean people spent lots of time and money fixing things to make sure they didn't work out as badly as they were going to, and they were successful?

 

Well, money won't really help here, although good planning will. It's too early to call on how successful we'll be this time around. The chance of mutation is there in this case, which it wasn't in Y2K, and that could lead to worse things. :eek:

[Twosox]

We had a few cases of swine flu here in NZ (seems to have gone away pretty quickly) and all the cases on TV were shown sitting around looking totally normal more like a light cold.

 

I agree with Janet. I've only had a about 2 flu's in my 59 years and both of them have put me in bed for 3 days or so. These cases of swine flu here in NZ were reported as mild and they were said to be recovering as soon as they stepped off the plane.

Funny that it takes me at least 10 days to get over most common colds.

 

I am concerned as we are cruising on July 5th, not concerned about getting it, more concerned about being confined to my cabin with more germs coming through the aircon, or just as bad missing ports.

 

Hopefully by then the hysteria will be over.

[Alymo1]

The decision the Dep of Health made re - Pacific Dawn to sail again was most likely the right one at the time. We now know better "hindsight".

 

What I am concerned about is the next cruise of 28days. How will this be handled?

 

I have been told by P&O that everything will be ok "ha" and you will be sailing. If you cancel there will be no refund or change of cruise.

 

If you do get flu symptoms on board your cabin of two adults and two children will be quarantined for at least a week and given untested drugs. Then if your symptoms have cleared you will be allowed out. If any one of us shows symptoms again, the quarantine process will start over again. I remind you that this only flu symptoms. As we all know most people on a cruise particularly a long one end up with flu symptoms. So we look forward to lots of isolation in our cabin with two small children.

 

I am not concerned about the flu itself but rather the onboard quarantine issues. P&O have said basically tough luck.

 

I feel like the testing/trial period will continue through our cruise.

 

As the next cruise is 28 days P&O will be unlikely to cancel this cruise to sort the problem out.

 

So lets see how they handle W916.

 

Regards,

Robert.

[bongaree]

We had a few cases of swine flu here in NZ (seems to have gone away pretty quickly) and all the cases on TV were shown sitting around looking totally normal more like a light cold.

 

I agree with Janet. I've only had a about 2 flu's in my 59 years and both of them have put me in bed for 3 days or so. These cases of swine flu here in NZ were reported as mild and they were said to be recovering as soon as they stepped off the plane.

Funny that it takes me at least 10 days to get over most common colds.

 

I am concerned as we are cruising on July 5th, not concerned about getting it, more concerned about being confined to my cabin with more germs coming through the aircon, or just as bad missing ports.

 

Hopefully by then the hysteria will be over.

 

Hi Two socks

 

Are you on Dawn Princess on July 5th. If so will see you in Southampton. We always spray our cabin twice a day with glen 20 especially the air con vents. It was a hint given to us from an old cruiser years ago and so far (touch wood) we haven't been sick on our past 16 cruises. We are also very carefull not to touch the hand rails on the stairs and use hand santiser regually. Also use the glen 20 in hotel rooms.

 

Regards - Janet (54 days 40 mins till we leave for the air port - but who's counting):)

[bongaree]

Hi Two Sox

 

See you are on the Pacific Sun. Hope you have a great time. We were on her last year and had a ball.

 

Janet

[Ela 2]

Thank you Thied for posting the statement by Mr. John Della Bosca, NSW Minister for Health. This confirms what I have said previously on this forum that the Health Dept authorities believed there was virtually no risk of swine flu on the Pacific Dawn and they had no reason to detain the 2000 passengers for the rest of the day. Against all the odds, there was swine flu and it has all blown up. I do not think there are grounds for criticism of P & O for following advice given by NSW Health Dept. Should the Captain have told the passengers that a couple of people had the flu and that medical tests were being done? In the light of the Health Dept advice, I don't know that that was necessary. If the Health Dept thought there was any reason for concern, I believe they should have given all disembarking passengers and crew a mask, anti bacterial gel and info on swine flu.

 

Should P & O have held the disembarking passengers from the Pacific Sun yesterday? Should they have been kept on board until night time while tests were conducted on the passengers with flu-like symptoms? I believe the reasonable answer to both questions is 'No'.

 

Evon.

[Alymo1]

One more thing, will these issues cause people to lie about their past and future flu symptoms. I have definately considered this to avoid quarantine and missing out on major parts of our cruise.

 

What if we were to take our own Tamiflu with us and if we became sick we could take this without notifying P&O and continued to visit all our ports. Of course continue to spread the flu. What then?

 

This is a once in a lifetime cruise for our family. We have saved and gone without for such a long time it would be devastating for us to miss these unique ports.

 

Of course I am speaking hypothetically.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

You have to feel sorry for those who have just disembarked as they have been left in limbo. Passengers were allowed to fly home to their own states which I find amazing and told to quarantine themselves for 7 days. Who is supposed to oversee that they do this?:confused:

I would also have thought that they would have had the Thermal Imagine Camera as the passengers disembarked to check for those who were sick.

 

Hi Lizzy:) Just saw your comments so thought I'd say hi. I've lost your email address. I'm reading with interest this thread about Pacific Dawn. It's a hard call as to who to blame but I'm sure there's a lot more to come. I see the Pacific Dawn no longer has their webcam in use whilst they are out at Willis Island. At least the Duty Free will be available as they are that far off the coast.

 

Jillybean:)

[Ela 2]

One more thing, will these issues cause people to lie about their past and future flu symptoms. I have definately considered this to avoid quarantine and missing out on major parts of our cruise.

 

What if we were to take our own Tamiflu with us and if we became sick we could take this without notifying P&O and continued to visit all our ports. Of course continue to spread the flu. What then?

 

This is a once in a lifetime cruise for our family. We have saved and gone without for such a long time it would be devastating for us to miss these unique ports.

 

Of course I am speaking hypothetically.

I know where you are coming from with this. My daughter and her boyfriend who just came off the Pacific Sun said they both had a fairly bad cold early in the cruise. It wasn't flu and they got over it in a couple of days. It wouldn't have been good to be quarantined for a week for a cold.

 

The problem I see for the cruiselines is a case of 'damned if you do and damned if you don't'. Princess was criticised when NSW Health kept the ship in quarantine for seven hours (in case there was swine flu) and P & O was criticised when NSW Health cleared the passengers to leave and it later found there was swine flu on board. So far I haven't heard criticism of P & O for letting passengers leave the Pacific Sun, but you will hear the howls of protest if test results come back this morning (or did overnight) showing swine flu. Because we haven't heard anything, it is likely the tests are negative.

 

Have we heard any congratulations of P & O for their handling of the Pacific Sun disembarkation yesterday? I haven't, and I will probably be waiting a long time for any. It is easy for people to criticise with the advantage of hindsight. By the way, I noticed yesterday at Portside that you could hardly move without tripping over staff from Carnival. :D In my opinion the company looked to be taking all precautions.

 

Evon.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

The decision the Dep of Health made re - Pacific Dawn to sail again was most likely the right one at the time. We now know better "hindsight".

 

What I am concerned about is the next cruise of 28days. How will this be handled?

 

I have been told by P&O that everything will be ok "ha" and you will be sailing. If you cancel there will be no refund or change of cruise.

 

If you do get flu symptoms on board your cabin of two adults and two children will be quarantined for at least a week and given untested drugs. Then if your symptoms have cleared you will be allowed out. If any one of us shows symptoms again, the quarantine process will start over again. I remind you that this only flu symptoms. As we all know most people on a cruise particularly a long one end up with flu symptoms. So we look forward to lots of isolation in our cabin with two small children.

 

I am not concerned about the flu itself but rather the onboard quarantine issues. P&O have said basically tough luck.

 

I feel like the testing/trial period will continue through our cruise.

 

As the next cruise is 28 days P&O will be unlikely to cancel this cruise to sort the problem out.

 

So lets see how they handle W916.

 

Regards,

Robert.

 

 

Robert what do you mean by being given 'untested drugs'? I would think you are generalising a bit by saying 'most' passengers on a long cruise end up with the flue.

The only preventative is 'always' washing hands, do not touch your mouth or eyes, and I know that's not easy for little children. You would get your money back from your travel insurance company if you cancelled your cruise due to medical grounds.

 

Jillybean

[Alymo1]

Robert what do you mean by being given 'untested drugs'? I would think you are generalising a bit by saying 'most' passengers on a long cruise end up with the flue.

The only preventative is 'always' washing hands, do not touch your mouth or eyes, and I know that's not easy for little children. You would get your money back from your travel insurance company if you cancelled your cruise due to medical grounds.

 

Jillybean

 

Most = Most?

 

You don't get a refund from insurance.

 

The drugs have had no long term testing.

[joebat1]

Just since I post the number of confirmed cases has risen to 20 disembarking passengers....

 

 

Now are are 3 additional suspected cases of the new passenger that embarked on the new cruise as it heads toward the Great Barrier Reef....

 

"SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia slapped tough measures on cruise ships docking in Sydney on Wednesday to guard against swine flu as the global death toll from the virus rose and total cases worldwide passed 13,000."

:Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there would be a "significant increase in the number of cases that are confirmed, particularly in the coming days."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090527...20090527172153

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle6373015.ece

[cruisekids009]

i wasn't planning on getting involved, but have been watching this situation with growing concern, we are travelling in august with 2 children, our cruise is only a 2 week one and to be confined to our cabin for 7 days with 2 kids is something that would drive me near to crazy. i dont think i would complain about misssing some ports etc, i just want my holiday, and i would not be happy about spending 7 days of it confined with 2 children in a cabin.

 

i know it seems extreme but if the situation continues i am considering having each of our party tested for swine flu in the days directly prior to sailing and having the record of the medical tests on hand at boarding. what happens on board is up to luck..

 

 

p&o will not refund for a cancellation

42- 15 days prior you forfeit 50% of your fare and

14 days or less 100% of the total fare

 

changing your holiday under 120 days from sailing incures the same as cancellation fees

 

travel insurance also will not cover cancellation due to swine flu, but will cover the medical costs incurred.

[Tinky2]

Hey Bongaree, thanks for your tip on Glen20 I will certainly be using it in future.

 

Cheers

Ellen :cool:

[jerseygirl3]

It drives me nuts too when people whine about the "flu" when they have a sniffle. I see both sides, the need to be cautious and the calm approach. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. When does the "flu" season officially end in Australia?

 

Angela

 

I am a pediatric nurse, and it does drive me nuts when people refuse the yearly flu vaccine, both for themselves as well as their children. I hear two common reasons. 1.) I don't need it because I never get the flu, and 2.) We've had the flu before and it wasn't so bad.

 

My answer to the first statement is that you're just lucky. One day the law of averages may catch up with you and you will eat those words.

 

And to the second statement, as others have said, they either didn't have the flu, or they are confusing influenza with gastrointestinal viruses. So many people refer to gastro viruses as "flu" when, in fact, it is nothing like the flu.

 

I had Type A Influenza about 15 years ago and I still can't forget how sick I was. Influenza, unlike a cold, doesn't come on slowly. It hits you like a ton of bricks. One minute you're fine, and within a couple of hours, all your symptoms start and you're flat on your back in bed. The body aches are so bad you just wish you would die to relieve the pain. The headache, sore throat, congestion and very high fevers are intolerable.

 

I agree that the media hype surrounding the H1N1 influenza has gotten out of control. There are 36,000 deaths in the U.S. alone each year from seasonal flu. I feel for those who have lost loved ones from this recent flu, but it's actually very mild when compared to seasonal influenza.

 

The really funny thing is that the same people who refuse the seasonal flu shot year after year are incensed that there isn't a vaccine against "swine flu." Imagine that...

 

My philosophy is to make my vacation plans, take out travel insurance (which we always do anyway), and let the chips fall where they may. And forget about "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" and enjoy life!

[Twosox]

Hi Janet

 

Thanks for your kind words. I wish we were on your cruise, it sounds great...51 days at sea and ports sounds like us..I wish!!

 

We have also hears of spraying the aircon and have also never been sick at all at sea (flu or seasick) so although I never "count my chickens" we will take precautions and hopefully all will be fine

 

Cheers

 

I see you have seen my countdown clock and am pleased to hear you had a great time on the Sun as we are like you and just love Princess so this is our first P & O

[PalmTree's]

Of this swine flu maybe a biological weapon - granted that it has a lot of people scared,and just maybe there is a higher power at work(ie secret government organisations) Call it a wild accusation,but never leave any stone unturned, I for one don't trust governments and the secrets that are kept from the general population.

 

Food for thought.

[ianqld]

In other words, Y2K with feathers and a side of bacon. Personally, I think swine flu is equivalent to Y2K, is equivalent to bird flu.

 

I heard that the health department is concerned the Swine Flu may merge with the Bird Flu .......................................................................... we will get the Pigs Can Fly Flu and then we're all stuffed :eek::D

[Twosox]

Love it!!! Good sense of humour, quite frankly I'm sick to death of the swines and they"d better not spoil our cruise