Britons on a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak are set to be repatriated from Tenerife to the United Kingdom, where they will be placed in isolation at the hospital that served as the UK's initial Covid quarantine facility. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has stated that the risk to the general public remains very low.
Repatriation Plans
The UKHSA confirmed that British passengers from the MV Hondius will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, after being flown back to the UK on a chartered flight. The cruise ship, carrying 22 British passengers and crew, is expected to arrive in Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands, early on Sunday morning.
Officials from the UKHSA and the Foreign Office will greet the vessel when it docks. British nationals on board will be tested for hantavirus before disembarking. Those who test negative and show no symptoms will be taken directly to a chartered repatriation flight staffed by medical professionals and equipped with personal protective equipment, including face masks.
Isolation at Arrowe Park
Upon arrival in the UK, the passengers will be housed in an accommodation block at the Arrowe Park site, separate from the hospital's public areas, to undergo clinical assessments and testing as a precaution. This hospital was previously used to house British citizens returning from Wuhan, China, in January 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic.
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, stated in a letter to staff: "We have been asked by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to house the guests, recognising how quickly and positively we responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will be welcoming the guests on Sunday May 10 2026 and they will all be screened for symptoms before they arrive on site; nobody showing any symptoms will be transferred here. If anyone becomes unwell after arrival, they will be transferred quickly to another facility."
Health Authority Statements
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Saturday that there are currently no symptomatic passengers on board the ship. The UN health agency confirmed six hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius, with four patients currently hospitalised. A total of eight cases, including three deaths, have been reported, with one previous suspected case reclassified after testing negative for hantavirus.
The UKHSA stated that three British nationals are among the eight cases: two confirmed hantavirus cases and one suspected case. The two confirmed British cases are in hospitals in South Africa and the Netherlands, while the third British national disembarked on Tristan da Cunha, where they reside and are receiving support from local health services.
Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at UKHSA, said: "We continue to work at pace with our international partners to ensure the safe repatriation of British nationals from the MV Hondius. The safety and wellbeing of those on board remains our number one priority. Established infection control measures will be in place at every step of the journey, and passengers will receive full support throughout, including during their period of isolation."
Quarantine and Public Safety
Emergency services in north-west England expect passengers to be kept in a managed setting for up to 72 hours. Public health specialists will then assess whether they can isolate at home or another suitable location based on their living arrangements. Britons returning to the UK will self-isolate for 45 days and will not be allowed to use public transport to reach their homes.
A joint statement from NHS England North West, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, Merseyside Police, North West Ambulance Service, and Wirral Council said: "Organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside are working closely with colleagues from the UK Health Security Agency and other government bodies to support the repatriation of passengers from MV Hondius. In line with advice from the UK Health Security Agency, on arrival, they will be taken to a managed setting for clinical assessment and testing. We expect this initial stay to be up to 72 hours. Following this, public health specialists will assess whether they can isolate at home or at another suitable location, based on their living arrangements. The risk to the general population remains very low."
WHO Reassures Tenerife Residents
WHO has sought to reassure worried Tenerife residents that they will not encounter passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship. In a letter to the people of Tenerife, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged their concerns, stating that the virus is serious but the outbreak is not another Covid and the current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. He added: "Spain's authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries."
The outbreak has been linked to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina that two passengers undertook before boarding the ship.
