Twenty-two passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, evacuated to the UK after a hantavirus outbreak, have begun isolation in self-contained flats in Merseyside. The passengers arrived at Manchester airport on Sunday evening via a chartered Titan Airways flight from Tenerife, and were transported to the isolation facility at Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral.
The UK's initial Covid quarantine site houses 20 British passengers, one German national who is a UK resident, and one Japanese passenger. All were tested for hantavirus before boarding the flight. The Japanese passenger is being monitored at Tokyo's request, with isolation in line with UK Health Security Agency guidance.
Spain's health minister confirmed that evacuations of all nationalities will be completed on Monday, with flights arriving from Australia and the Netherlands. A flight from Australia will evacuate six passengers, and another from the Netherlands will take 18, also carrying passengers from countries that did not send their own repatriation flights.
According to the World Health Organization, three people have died from the virus: a Dutch couple and a German national. Eight people no longer on the ship have fallen ill, with six confirmed cases. The US Department of Health and Human Services reported one American tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus, while a French passenger also tested positive and their health is deteriorating.
Strict infection control measures were in place during the evacuation, with all individuals wearing personal protective equipment. Over the next 72 hours, passengers will receive clinical assessments and testing at the isolation facility, which has six floors of self-contained flats with bedrooms, en suite bathrooms, kitchens, and lounges.
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital, stated that no symptomatic passengers have been transferred and the hospital's services are unaffected. She noted that hantavirus requires very close contact to spread and poses a low risk to the public. Passengers will self-isolate for 45 days, with daily contact from health protection teams.
