Noel King

The outbreak aboard a cruise ship in Japan is getting worse, with more than 130 cases confirmed, including nearly a dozen Americans.

We're now learning two passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died.

All right.

So I hear you saying that some things went wrong in 2020.

It was the responsibility of the ships, the Diamond Princess.

I remember that very well, actually.

And here we are in 2026.

And again, we have the person running the ship responsible for the ship, letting people off the ship, letting them travel.

So the issue seems to be the same different ship, of course.

What should have changed between 2020 and 2026 to stop this from happening?

And did any laws actually change?

Did we update anything and say from now on, if 10 people on a ship have a fever, y'all are out in the middle of the ocean until we figure out what the hell's going on?

They relate to ensuring greater efficiency and effectiveness in responding to things like the outbreak of COVID-19.

What in an ideal world should happen?

And I'm tempted to think that because there has not been a high death toll here, even though there's a lot of attention drawn to the hantavirus outbreak, it seems likely that this will not be the thing that makes us change our behavior.

This will not be the time that makes us wake up.

But I could be wrong.

Do you think we're waking up?

Lawrence Gostin.

He teaches global health at Georgetown and directs the World Health Organization Center on Global Health.