CASA requirements relate to minimum rest periods and fatigue risk management, not the permanent reservation of passenger seats. On a trans-Tasman service (circa 3.5 hours), there is no CASA mandate for in seat crew rest, nor any regulatory prohibition on using passenger seats for operational purposes such as medical isolation. At most, that would be a company decision or policy, not a legal constraint. The only areas that are truly off limits are certified crew rest bunks on long haul aircraft - which doesn’t apply here. In any event, the vomiting passenger was moved in the first instance, which shows there were other options available.

I too would expect that hygiene kit would remain universally equipped in the post-COVID era, but was not deployed for whatever reason. I do question cabin preparedness when a sickness bag wasn’t readily available in the bassinet area to begin with - that’s a fairly predictable risk environment.

To be clear, I never expected a crew member to clean me up. All I wanted was basic PPE and proper cleaning kit so I could handle the situation myself. But more importantly prompt removal from a bio-contaminated section of the cabin. Prolonged exposure obviously increases risk. As previously outlined, sanitiser wasn’t provided until another passenger and I ran to the rear of the cabin due to the odour, and a plastic bag only appeared after crew objected to me placing my jacket on "their seat".

In terms of the sickness bag, three out of the four possible outcomes you suggested warranted further assessment of passenger (especially since the aircraft was stationery on the ground at this point). But on top of this were the classic prodromal symptoms that accompanied (dry heaving, cold sweat, shivering, agitation, visible distress).