About 54 Tasmanians were on the Ruby Princess cruise ship which had several cases, and now at least 5 of them in Hobart have tested positive and the rest are in isolation. So far we have 22 cases but 3 have recovered, and no fatalities. All of them recently travelled on cruise ships or came in from the U.S. A lot of tourists that are still here are not following the rules for social distancing, and there are still a lot of people that think it is all blown out of proportion. The radio shock jocks and the Murdoch Press (Fox News) are not helping matters. The police are now going around to check that people who have been ordered to self isolate are actually doing it. Things are a LOT worse over on the mainland, so we are very glad to be here in Legana.
​They have isolated the island and now anyone not designated essential personnel has to go into a 14 day self isolation. Essential are medical, police, defence, ship and air crew, and transport drivers bringing stuff across on the ferries. Anyone else including locals returning home, people coming in on yachts or planes, have to be isolated. They have also closed restaurants and pubs except for take away food. Everything else here is basically open but you have to keep your distance from other people/shoppers. School holidays officially start next week but they have decided to go early.