A vulnerable Australian doctor trapped on a cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay faces almost certain death, his family fears.
Dr John Clifford, 71, has been stranded on the Greg Mortimer off the coast of Montevideo in Uruguay since March 23 when a passenger came down with a fever.
Daily Mail Australia has been told at least nine people onboard the ship are believed to have become ill from COVID-19, with one finally removed after becoming critically ill.
Dr John Clifford watches the Falklands go by while trapped upon the Greg Mortimer, which has been infected with the dreaded coronavirus
There are 90 passengers trapped on the Greg Mortimer cruise ship, which had departed Australia for the Antarctic on March 13
A drawing of the Greg Mortimer by Dr John Clifford’s worried granddaughter
Dr Clifford’s wife, Margaret Zacharin, said matters had gone from bad to worse on Thursday with the ship’s doctor overcome with illness.
‘One of the two doctors employed onboard for that purpose is too ill to do his duties and the other doctor has requested help from the passengers,’ she said.
Mr Clifford, who is an orthopedic surgeon that suffers from asthma, has been asked to carry out COVID-19 tests on his fellow passengers.
There are 90 passengers trapped on the cruise ship, which had departed Australia for the Antarctic on March 13.
Prof Zacharin said she cannot understand why her husband has been asked to carry out the tests when the cruise operator, Aurora Expeditions, claims to have two expedition doctors on the vessel.
‘If that’s the case, I’m unsure why the doctor working is requesting passengers to help,’ she said.
Prof Zacharin said many of the passengers onboard the trapped vessel were Australian doctors.
‘He’s 71 years of age, he’s an orthopedic surgeon – he deals with bones, not respiratory illness and he has asthma himself. The mortality rate for 70-80 years olds is up to 20 per cent,’ she said.
‘What do you think is going to happen if he starts dealing with sick patients? But it is very foolish to be looking at that rather than looking at urgent evacuation of that ship.’
The Greg Mortimer has been trapped off the coast of Montevideo in Uruguay (pictured) since March 23 when a passenger came down with a fever
There are more than 450 infections linked to cruise ships, including 340 cases from the Ruby Princess (pictured off Sydney on Thursday) and 74 from the Ovation of the Seas.
Prof Zacharin said she believed the Uruguayan government had provided a berth for the ship but would not let it dock until the ship’s doctor provided a report.
‘Well he’s too sick to write it,’ she said.
On Wednesday, passengers of the Greg Mortimer were forced to watch from the isolation of their cabins as a charter flight they were blocked from joining lifted into the sky to repatriate 134 of their fellow Australians.
It remains unclear how long they will have to wait before they too are rescued.
‘There isn’t another charter flight being organised at this moment,’ Prof Zacharin said.
The family has been in contact with everyone the opposition to the Deputy Prime Minister to try and secure safe passage for the passengers off the doomed ship.
‘It needs to be everywhere,’ Prof Zacharin said. ‘It is personally unsafe and I’ll certainly go to bat for my family, but it’s also very foolish to be putting what is almost certainly a whole ship with COVID-positive – just like every other cruise or small ship – (together).
‘You stick people in a Petri dish and they’ll all get the infection. If they went home now, most of them would have little or no illness.’
Prof Zacharin’s daughter Vanessa Clifford, who is an infectious disease doctor herself, said her father had remained composed despite the looming threat.
Her father is able to communicate with loved ones about once a day via WhatsApp.
Canadian passengers Chris and Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the Zaandam on March 27
‘They’re dying, so we have to do something,’ the US president said. The Zandaam (pictured) and sister ship Rotterdam are fast approaching Florida and hoping to dock at Port Everglades later this week
‘He’s reasonably calm and he’s in a room with another anesthetist from Western Australia and they both seem to be managing okay, but obviously they’re stressed by the idea of having to do medical work when they’re in a high-risk age group,’ she said.
Hundreds of Australians remain stranded on cruise ships across the globe, which are being monitored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
When the Morrison government announced a 30-day ban on the arrival of ships on March 15, at least 37 were in Australian waters and 90,000 passengers remained at sea worldwide.
Among the worst at risk is Holland America Line’s MS Zandaam, which has seen dozens of passengers get sick and reports of deaths.
On Thursday, police have escorted doctors to the Ruby Princess cruise ship after a seventh passenger died from coronavirus.
An 85-year-old patient from Darling Downs, in regional southern Queensland, became the seventh Ruby Princess cruise passenger to die from COVID-19.
There are more than 450 infections linked to cruise ships, including 340 cases from the Ruby Princess and 74 from the Ovation of the Seas.
Aurora Expeditions said in a letter to family and friends: ‘There is no doubt this is the most challenging situation any of us have every experienced and our thoughts are with you … All relevant government authorities are 100 per cent engaged.’