“Who put the crew ashore in a foreign country amid the pandemic?”
Here’s the thing; port calls are made at the Pentagon level with the consideration of 1). logistically arranged resupplying of the ship. 2). showing the flag. 3) Rest and Recreation for the crew and 4). diplomatic considerations, especially when trying to make trade deals and fostering alliances.
Cancelling a port call is a major decision made by the State Dept., the Pentagon and, if necessary, the President. With that said, the Commanding Officer can, and do, cancel a port call if he deems that the port call will endanger his ship or crew.
For example, the DDG I was on was scheduled to do a port call in Mombassa, Kenya. The port was such that we were to be at anchor and would take liberty boats to shore. While the tugs were tying up to get us to the anchorage two of the three tugs were not using bumbers, (rubber tires attached to the side of the tug), to protect our hull from damage and one had the line fray and snap almost immediately after putting a stress on it. The C.O. refused to allow the tugs to continue and ordered them to depart. Our ship turned around and put back out to sea. The C.O. made a decision based on the conditions of the tugs and the professionalism of their captains. I’m sure he caught flack from the Commodore but his decision was not over ruled because he was the one who had the responsibility to protect the ship and crew from harm.
Could the C.O. of the aircraft carrier have cancelled the port call? Possibly, but he would have needed to consult his chain of command since the port call was planned and there was no physical threat to the ship. As for the threat to the crew from the Wulan virus, that may have required cancelling liberty call if the threat was dire at the time. But, that would have been done in consultation with the Pentagon and State Dept. as to the potential for infection based on the medical knowledge at the time concerning the virus.
I would put the blame for the virus infection of the crew on the upper chain of command and State, not the C.O.
While there may be plenty of blame to go around, the CO is not without his share. Does he not have some responsibility for the health and safety of the people under his command?