There are long standing international treaties about plague ships that dictate what can be done. The bottom line for most of them is that a plague ship (which is what these cruise liners are now) are given safe anchorage in a harbor that can safely accommodate the ship in an isolated area, the ship *cannot* leave (in some cases, the host nation Navy will disable it with explosives or gunfire), and the passengers are *not* allowed to disembark other than for treatment if treatment is even possible. The plague ship *is* given humanitarian and medical supplies and such medical support as the hosting country feels it can afford to risk or as is volunteered. A perimeter around it is enforced - passengers are ONLY allowed off for treatment until the plague is cured or burns out. Four thousand years of seagoing plagues has taught us that this is how you keep disease from spreading and we have treaties accordingly.
There are no such treaties for patients on land.
Thanks.
I guess that explains the difference in how the two situations (our ppl who were in Wuhan/China, flown home, vs our ppl on this ship) were/are being handled.
I wonder what changed the treaty process, for this particular ship, to now allow them to disembark/evacuate).
Quarantine time had been restarting, after each new case was confirmed.