Australian health officials made "unjustifiable" and "inexcusable" mistakes which allowed cruise ship passengers with Covid-19 to disembark in central Sydney, an inquiry has found.
The Carnival Corp-owned Ruby Princess was for a time Australia's biggest single source of infection, with more than 600 cases and over 20 deaths directly linked to those passengers.
Some 2,700 passengers, 120 of whom were feeling unwell, were allowed to leave the ship on 19 March last, helping spread the virus across the country and internationally.
Health officials in New South Wales - the Australian state where Sydney is located - failed to ensure that sick passengers were isolated in their cabins, a report by the inquiry concluded.