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A 76-year-old Californian man who died from coronavirus complications after travelling on the Ruby Princess has become the first confirmed international fatality from the stricken cruise ship.
Key points:
- Nineteen Ruby Princess passengers in Australia have died from COVID-19
- More than 600 Australians have the virus after travelling on the cruise
- The number of infections among the ship's 900 international passengers is unknown, but ABC News has traced at least 35 confirmed cases
Steven Lazarus had been on a ventilator for two weeks before he died April 9 after developing COVID-19 symptoms on his return to the United States.
"He was the rock of our family, someone who I relied on for advice and who never steered me wrong," his son, Michael, wrote in a social media tribute.
Mr Lazarus's wife, Elissa, also travelled on the cruise ship and tested positive, but has not shown symptoms.
It's understood up to 900 of the 2,700 Ruby Princess passengers were from overseas.
The ship cut short its cruise around New Zealand and returned to Circular Quay on March 19, where passengers were allowed to disembark despite more than a dozen people on board showing symptoms of, and being tested for, coronavirus.
In Australia, about 600 cases and 19 deaths have been linked to the ship, but the total number of infections among international passengers remains a mystery.
ABC News has traced at least 35 confirmed COVID-19 international cases linked to the ship.
"It's the way it took my dad," Michael Lazarus said of the family's grief.
"It's that I cannot comfort my mom physically.
"It pains my family deeply that we cannot comfort her like we should be able to and she has to deal with losing the love of her life on her own."
There are confirmed COVID-19 cases among Ruby Princess passengers from Canada, the US — including California, Utah and Florida — and New Zealand.
Some Canadian passengers who contracted the virus after travelling on the ship said its operator "could not have done more to put our health at risk".
The circumstances surrounding the ship's arrival in Sydney are the subject of a criminal investigation by NSW Police, and a Special Commission of Inquiry, launched this week by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Steven and Elissa Lazarus, who were married for more than 50 years, are from Thousand Oaks in north-western Los Angeles.
Steven Lazarus was a father of three and grandfather to five grandchildren.
Michael Lazarus said it was important to remember the people behind the statistics.
"I have thought a lot about the effects of COVID-19 as it has had an enormous impact on everyone's lives," he wrote.
"But the charts and data and graphs and theories don't bring anything.
"If you take anything away from this know this not about data points or statistics."
Michael Lazarus described his mother as being "tougher than anyone I know"
He also thanked the staff at the Los Robles Regional Medical Centre, where his father spent his final days.
"May his memory be a blessing," Michael Lazarus wrote.
"I love you Dad."
The ship, with more than 1,000 crew on board, remains docked at Port Kembla south of Sydney.
The date it will depart Australia remains unclear.
So far, 128 crew members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Carnival Australia, the operator of the Ruby Princess, said it was co-operating with police.
"In addition to willingly participating in the investigation, Carnival Australia will vigorously respond to any allegations of which there must now be full disclosure and the basis for them," a spokesperson said.
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Topics: covid-19, diseases-and-disorders, health, infectious-diseases-other, state-parliament, police, death, travel-and-tourism, travel-health-and-safety, sydney-2000, nsw, australia, new-zealand, united-states