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Tasmanian coronavirus tally hits 28, with more infected from Ruby Princess cruise ship

By James Dunlevie
Posted , updated 
More passengers from the Ruby Princess have tested positive to coronavirus.(AAP: Dean Lewins)

Tasmania has six new cases of coronavirus, with four of those infected being people who returned to the state after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

In a statement, Scott McKeown, acting director of Public Health, said the tally of positive cases of COVID-19 was now 28.

One of other new cases is a person who returned to Tasmania after disembarking the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice in Sydney.

The sixth case was a person who "recently returned from overseas", he said.

Dr McKeown said the department was "currently working to identify and contact close contacts of the cases so that these people can be placed in self-quarantine".

"Three of the people are from Northern Tasmania, three are from Southern Tasmania," he said.

Dr McKeown said two people who had yet to be contacted from the 54 Tasmanians who had been aboard the Ruby Princess had "now been contacted by PHS and will be monitored in quarantine".

Dr McKeown said the cases "reflect the rapidly increasing incidence of coronavirus infection throughout the world and the occurrence of cases and outbreaks" aboard cruise ships.

"All 28 cases to date are directly linked to overseas travel or cruise ships, or to people who have travelled overseas," he said, adding there was "no evidence of community transmission in Tasmania".

Earlier today, Tasmania's director of Public Health, Mark Veitch, said he anticipated there would be further cases arising from the Ruby Princess voyage, which had so far seen 48 people from around Australia test positive to the disease.

Dr Veitch said the department was also in the process of contacting Tasmanian passengers who had travelled on the Ovation of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Celebrity Solstice cruise ships — but in some instances had been hampered by incorrect phone numbers.

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