“And shame on the Japanese officials for not taking passengers off that ship, especially after it became clear that the virus was being spread between passengers several days ago.”
It is quite likely that they did not want to put stress on their medical infrastructure until they had to. There are so many unknowns and how much of a risk to the general population dispersing the potential carriers poses is one of them.
Consider that some 1700 medical workers that have been involved with this disease have become infected. These people should know what they are doing (you would expect) and still they are getting infected in droves.
There were very few cases of COVID-19 initially confirmed on the ship, so the risk of stress to Japan’s First World modern medical services (as opposed to China’s Third World primitive medical services) was probably minimal.
So far, in First World countries, infection of medical service personnel has apparently been limited. Outside China, I don’t recall a single reported case yet.
“So far, in First World countries, infection of medical service personnel has apparently been limited. Outside China, I don’t recall a single reported case yet.”
I believe there was one in Japan related to the very ship we’re discussing.
But my point that nobody knows what’s happening or the scope of the risks here is valid.