A former resident of Wagga was "shocked by the blase" attitude shown when departing a cruise ship last week.
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Tracey Pankhurst said the new quarantine crackdown for overseas travellers and cruise ship passengers was far from her experience when leaving the Voyager of the Seas cruise on March 18 following almost a fortnight at sea.
It follows the infamous news of thousands of passengers departing the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney and allowed to proceed to board buses, trains and flights across Australia.
Mrs Pankhurst said she travelled with a group of 24 people who were told to make their own way back to Brisbane, Adelaide and Wagga before starting 14-days of self-isolation despite the escalating concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The moment we got off the boat to the moment we got through border security, it was 10 minutes," she said.
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"They were more stringent about people boarding the boat than they were about people getting off.
"I want to set the record straight. No one was given any masks, we thought there would be buses transporting people where they needed to go, nothing."
At Sydney Airport, Mrs Pankhurst said she explained the situation to their airline's customer service counter - wanting to know if there was an isolation room given their eight-hour wait until their flight home.
"First off she just laughed - I don't know if she had a hard day ... and her exact words to me was just walk around and spread it," she said.
"There should have been measures put into place if they were saying the disease was easily transmitted from person-to-person."
Mrs Pankhurst, however is calling for people to "stop pointing fingers" at cruise ship passengers because they were told to travel on buses, flights and trains home.
"The biggest issue before we got on the boat was the toilet paper ... believe it or not three weeks ago it was not big like it is today," she said.
"People are saying name and shame these people, but we were doing what we were told."
Riverina MP and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said what was witness from the cruise ships had not been perfect, but it has been acknowledged.
However, he said he would be "absolutely gobsmacked" if one Australian told another to walk around and spread it.
"I'm not say the lady wasn't telling the truth, I am just saying I wouldn't think anyone would be so blase about this ... It might have been said in a flippant and joking manner but it would not have been seriously said. As we all know this virus is deadly," he said.
Mr McCormack said it was time to "bunker down" before more people were infected with this "insidious disease"
"If we are told to stay home, stay home as best we can. If you can work from home, work from home. If you can limit and minimise your travel then please do so," he said.
"To save lives and livelihood we need to stay at home."
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