Port Macquarie couple Sue and Gregg Faulkner voluntarily quarantine in light of coronavirus

Gregg Faulkner and his wife Sue recently returned home after a 28 day cruise on the Viking Sun.

"We have returned from our huge adventure, but we have decided to impose a 14 day voluntary quarantine on ourselves for the safety of our friends and associates," Mr Faulkner said.

"While we have no reason to believe that we are infected or even exposed to C-19 virus, we have been walking around Komodo Island, Bali and crowded airports in the past week.

"We feel that the risk is sufficient to warrant this step."

Mr Faulkner is also president of the Port Macquarie Parkinson's Support Group.

He said given he is around a lot of elderly people, and some already have existing health conditions, he didn't want to be responsible for them getting sick.

The ship the Faulkners were on hosted over 900 passengers and as part of its itinerary the vessel was originally set to dock in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and China before finishing in Hong Kong.

However when the ship departed from Sydney, people onboard were advised China and Hong Kong were no longer an option to visit, due to the outbreak of the virus.

Instead, after travelling up the east cost from Sydney and stopping off at various points along the way, the ship docked at New Caledonia before returning to several location stops in Australia.

Instead of docking at Hong Kong, it was proposed the vessel could dock at Singapore, however it also closed off to the tourists.

Two proposed docking points in Indonesia also wouldn't allow the cruise ship travellers to depart, despite Mr Faulkner stating authorities had done extensive testing on all the staff and travellers on board.

"There were no signs of the infection whatsoever. In fact it was an amazingly healthy ship," Mr Faulkner said.

The ship then travelled onto Bali, where Mr Faulkner said travellers and staff had to undergo a fifth health check before they were eventually allowed in the country.

Mr Faulkner said they spent a day in Bali, which was fantastic as they walked around Komodo Island.

After a number of flight changes, which Mr Faulkner said their local travel agent did a wonderful job of sorting, the couple eventually flew to Sydney from Bali and arrived in Port Macquarie on Tuesday, March 10.

Mr Faulkner said they've ordered groceries online and got the delivery person to leave the supplies at the top of the driveway, to reduce any chance of potential infection.

Mr Faulkner believes the Australian government should be doing more in terms of health checks for people who are arriving at the country's airports.

He said they weren't personally checked at any points during their journey from Bali.

The couple are set to receive compensation in the form of cruise credit from Viking Cruises.

Mr Faulkner said they would definitely travel with the company again, as the staff were brilliant and they carried out health and safety precautions with professionalism.

During their 14 days of quarantine, the couple plan on catching up on all the things they wouldn't have time for normally.

Mr Faulkner is looking forward to editing hours of video footage from their trip.

Meanwhile major travel agencies including Flight Centre and Helloworld, which have centres in Port Macquarie, have taken steps to protect their business in the wake of the virus.

In a statement released on March 11, Helloworld outlined staff are being asked to take paid or unpaid leave, non-essential recruitment has been halted and all discretionary expenditures are being reduced or eliminated.

Helloworld chief executive officer Andrew Burnes said over the last two weeks the company has seen a steady decline in bookings in some parts of the business, particularly cruise, inbound to Australia, wholesale to Asia and Europe and in corporate international travel.

Mr Burnes said cancellations had also increased in these areas.

A spokesperson from Flight Centre Travel Group said the company is keeping a close eye on costs in the short-term, as travel demand will be softer than normal over the next few months.

"While it's quieter than normal, it makes sense to encourage people to take leave or to operate more flexibly if that is of interest," he said.

"A shorter work week is one option that has been made available to our support and sales people over the next couple of months, including our people in Port Macquarie."

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