Evacuations of passengers from a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak have commenced, as British nationals on board prepare to be flown home for isolation at the UK's former Covid quarantine facility.
The MV Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning, with Spanish authorities beginning to evacuate passengers by nationality. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that British passengers will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, after being repatriated on a chartered flight.
UKHSA and Foreign Office officials were present when the ship docked in Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands. Britons on board underwent hantavirus testing before disembarkation. Those testing negative and showing no symptoms will be taken directly to a chartered repatriation flight staffed by medical professionals and equipped with personal protective equipment, including face masks.
World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on social media Sunday morning: "The disembarkment of the first group of MV Hondius passengers has started. WHO experts on the ground are working with the Spanish Health Ministry on the epidemiological assessment of the passengers and coordinating charter flights with the Interior Ministry."
Upon return to the UK, passengers will be housed in an accommodation block on the Arrowe Park site, separate from the hospital's public areas, to undergo clinical assessments and testing as a precautionary measure. This hospital served as the UK's initial Covid quarantine site, and blue tarped fences around accommodation blocks were erected on Sunday morning.
Emergency services in North West England stated that passengers are expected to remain in this "managed setting" for up to 72 hours. They emphasised that the NHS Trust and hospital are "operating as normal" with no risk to patients, visitors, or staff, and that "people should continue to come forward for care as usual."
Following their isolation, public health specialists will determine whether passengers can self-isolate at home or at another suitable location based on their living arrangements. Britons returning to the UK will self-isolate for 45 days and will not be permitted to use public transport to reach their homes.
WHO reported on Saturday that there were no symptomatic passengers on board the MV Hondius, and the UKHSA stated that the risk to the public "remains very low." 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.
The UKHSA confirmed that three British nationals are among the eight cases: two confirmed hantavirus cases and one suspected. The two confirmed British cases are hospitalised in South Africa and the Netherlands, while the third British national with a suspected case is being supported on the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha, where they reside.
Six paratroopers, an RAF consultant, and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade were parachuted onto the South Atlantic island, and oxygen supplies and medical aid were also dropped on Tristan da Cunha, which is normally only accessible by boat. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated that this marked the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support.
