It's been one week since passengers on board the Greg Mortimer cruise ship stranded off Uruguay issued a plea for rescue after a handful of fever cases prompted authorities to ban them from disembarking. Now, with 90 Australians among a total of 216 on board, the ship has more than 80 confirmed cases of coronavirus and no clear path for repatriating anyone.

Melbourne woman Margaret Zacharin, whose husband is awaiting results of a second test, is pleading for Australia to bring its citizens home.

The Greg Mortimer cruise ship is stranded off the coast of Uruguay.

"It will be like all the other ships. The longer people wait in an enclosed space … of course the majority will get [coronavirus]. And like every other ship, there’ll be deaths."

There are about 260 Australians still at sea on six cruise ships, including the Greg Mortimer. That is down from the more than 6000 Australians on 53 ships last month.