The only way you could legally be physically detained in quarantine at a conference would be by a sworn offer (e.g. a police officer) acting on a government order.

"Isolation is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy. Isolation restricts the movement of ill persons to help stop the spread of certain diseases. For example, hospitals use isolation for patients with infectious tuberculosis.

Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of communicable disease."

Seems like the only real distinction is in terms of whether on not you're currently ill, but fundamentally they both restrict movement.

From HIMSS [1]: "Screening procedures established by the CDC will be conducted on site throughout the conference; HIMSS and the Orange County Convention Center will consult health teams at Orlando Health when necessary.

Should screening reveal an elevated risk for an attendee, the person will be isolated immediately to prevent exposure to conference participants."

[1] https://www.himssconference.org/updates/himss-update-coronav...

[2] https://www.hhs.gov/answers/public-health-and-safety/what-is...

On the cruise ship, which is known for being full of old people, there were 3 deaths out of ~750 known cases. Almost everyone dying so far has had another medical issue or been very old. Reports now say that many people testing positive have no symptoms at all and aren't getting sick. There have been zero deaths of children so far, which is unlike the flu. The youngest death was in his mid 30s.

Everyone should chill. Visit with your parents or compromised friends on FaceTime for a few weeks. Wash your hands. Don't go to work sick. If you're pregnant take extra precautions. Otherwise live your normal life.

Actually it's 6 out of 705. [0][1] May seem like a small difference, but a 0.8% chance of dying is 8x more than the flu.

Never mind the fact that the data out of China, Italy, Japan and Iran is all trending around the 2-3% CFR calculated and published in multiple peer reviewed journals. [2][3]

(However, South Korea might be reason for hope.)

>or been very old

It bothers me immensely when people mention it's "just old people". I'm not sure why I should "chill" about my parents having an 8% chance of dying if they contract this. [3]

[0] https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/02/the-latest-coronavirus...

[1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[2] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762130

[3] http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9...

There's a good chance being confined to a cabin in a cruise ship and acquiring COVID-19 is more detrimental to someone than if they had a community acquired infection going about their normal life.

Being restricted like that implies they're getting significantly less exercise than they would normally, and the stress combined with lack of sun can do a number on someone's sleep cycle. That in turn can influence cognition, especially in the elderly, and I imagine increases the chances of being dehydrated/etc...

It's like being in a hospital, which tends to do a number on most people, but without supportive around the clock care.

I agree with not fomenting panic. However, "had another medical issue" means diabetes, which alone covers 11% of the US population, and has so far been associated with a mortality rate of about 8%. This likely includes at least one family member in more or less every US family.

It's entirely reasonable to view that as a compelling reason to avoid things like major conferences with significant inter- and trans-national mass transit.

It's still quite scary to see how diabetics have a very high risk with the virus. Luckily the treatment I get with my closed loop gives me an easy access to excellent control.

People from the cruise ship are still in the process of dieing. 2 more deaths occured today.

The number of recovered cases from the cruise ship is low, so naive inference on death rate so far is misleading.

[0]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/here-is-w...

Second, there have deaths of people in there 20's a casual google search of 'youngest death coronavirus' yields that information as the first result.

And if you believe every young death (or every death) in Hubei province is being publicized, you haven't been paying attention.

I do agree that it's important not to panic, but we absolutely should be taking social distancing measures to reduce the r0.