2GB host Ray Hadley has blasted a fill-in presenter over “foolish” comments made about the Covid-19 riddled Coral Princess cruise ship.
2GB host Ray Hadley has blasted fill-in presenter Chris Smith over comments made about the Coral Princess cruise ship, which has allowed passengers and crew to disembark despite recording 118 Covid cases onboard.
Hadley said he was “embarrassed to be on the same network” as him in a heated rant following Smith’s comments on Wednesday.
Smith called for calm as panic threatened to ensue over yet another inevitable outcome on a tightly-packed cruise ship. He said passengers were well aware of the risk, and said they should be let off the ship in Sydney immediately considering the skyrocketing Covid tally in NSW.
“We are in a different realm, this is very different. We have defences against the virus now and it’s not like following the Ruby Princess,” Smith said.
“I would argue we shouldn’t panic … We need to be real about this, put it in context. Let’s not get excited.
“Put it in perspective: there is only 118 positive cases on the Coral Princess.
“At the same time there are more than 130,000 active cases in the NSW community, so you could be in the city today and walk past more than 100 people with the virus.”
“We don’t need to get worked up about this Covid was always going to spread on cruise ships as it does on planes, as it does in workplaces, at the footy and elsewhere.
“These people knew what they were walking into as well.”
Hadley immediatley tore strips off Smith when he went to air.
“One of my colleagues this morning was saying nothing to see here — it’s all wonderful,” he said.
“I’m sorry — but the sort of nonsense I heard on the network this morning is just foolish.
“I’m almost embarrassed I’m on the same broadcast network as that bloke. But anyway, that’s another story I’ll deal with privately.”
The Coral Princess has been given an amber risk level by NSW Health as passengers disembarked the vessel in Sydney.
The Coral Princess, with around 2300 people on-board, docked at Circular Quay about 6.30am on Wednesday.
Passengers and crew were allowed to leave the ship if they returned a negative rapid antigen test.
As of Tuesday, 118 people on the ship have tested positive for Covid – 114 staff and four passengers.
A NSW Health assessment gave the Coral Princess an amber Covid risk level, which indicates a moderate impact to the vessel.
This rating allows the ship to safely maintain critical services.
Those who are infected with Covid and their close contacts have been told to isolate in their cabins until they produce a negative test result.
Others onboard have to record a negative test result before they are allowed to disembark and passengers have been advised to wear masks while in Sydney.
It comes after 800 passengers were allowed to disembark in Eden on Tuesday under the same condition that they returned a negative Covid test result.
Originally published as 2GB host Ray Hadley blasts fill-in Chris Smith over Coral Princess comments
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