British passengers and crew from the cruise ship at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak are set to be quarantined at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, the same facility used to isolate evacuees from Wuhan during the Covid pandemic. The group will be flown back to the UK from Tenerife, according to Sky News.
Arrowe Park Hospital's Role in Previous Quarantine
The site became known as 'Camp Corona' in 2020 when Britons evacuated from China at the start of the coronavirus outbreak were held there in quarantine. A letter from Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed the hospital had been asked to receive the passengers on Sunday. Holmes stated the group would be housed in the accommodation block on the Arrowe Park site 'to provide them with a safe place for their isolation period'. She added the hospital had been chosen because of how it had previously 'responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the COVID-19 pandemic'. Any individual who becomes unwell after arriving in the UK will be transferred to another facility.
Current Situation on the Cruise Ship
There are currently 22 British citizens still on board the vessel, including 19 passengers and three crew members. The ship is expected to dock in Tenerife in the Canary Islands early tomorrow morning, with the Spanish government confirming Britain's plans to send a repatriation flight. According to the head of the World Health Organisation, none of the passengers currently on board are showing symptoms of hantavirus.
Previous Quarantine at Arrowe Park
Arrowe Park Hospital previously housed dozens of Britons evacuated from Wuhan at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in January 2020. Five coaches carrying 83 British nationals, escorted by police motorbikes, arrived at the Merseyside hospital after they were flown home from China aboard a Wamos Air Boeing 747. At that time, those quarantined were kept in a block of apartments on the hospital site and underwent testing before eventually being allowed to leave after completing isolation. The facility later became nicknamed 'Camp Corona' during the early days of the pandemic.
Challenges During Previous Quarantine
Previous reports from inside the quarantine centre claimed some evacuees threatened to leave unless they were provided with better food and alcohol. One security guard alleged the site had been stocked with beer, wine, and spirits after complaints from residents, while another claimed one quarantined patient threatened to 'break out' after becoming drunk. The government later introduced emergency legal powers making it an offence for anyone in coronavirus quarantine to leave isolation before being cleared by doctors.
