Cruise passengers call for US help amid outbreak

The U.S. Coast Guard has directed all cruise ships to prepare to treat any sick passengers and crew on board while being sequestered indefinitely offshore during the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal, state and local officials have been negotiating over whether Carnival's Holland America cruise ships, the Zaandam and Rotterdam, would be allowed to dock at Port Everglades in Florida this week.

Two of four deaths on the Zaandam were blamed on COVID-19 and nine people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the company said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that the state's healthcare system is stretched too thin to take on their virus caseloads.

While many have reported feeling ill, most of the passengers and crew on both ships appear to be in good health.

Laura Gabaroni and her husband Juan Huergo, who work for a defense contractor in Orlando, saw their dream vacation turn harrowing as countries shunned them and people fell ill.

Fever-free and without symptoms, she and her husband were transferred from the Zaandam to the Rotterdam. She wrote DeSantis imploring her governor to let them off.

"Let's uphold the principles that make us a great nation and be compassionate and humane to other people," Gabaroni said.

Huergo said he's feeling abandoned.

"There are over 300 Americans, including 49 Floridians on this ship who feel like their country and state are turning their backs on them," he added. "We need the U.S. to abide by their military motto, 'No Man Left Behind.'"

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.