Twenty-two people evacuated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak are spending their first day in self-contained flats in Merseyside. The passengers, who arrived from Tenerife on a chartered Titan Airways flight to Manchester airport on Sunday evening, are being housed at the former Covid quarantine site at Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral.
The group includes 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 isolating in line with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance at Tokyo's request.
Public health minister Sharon Hodgson said: "None of the passengers are symptomatic, but we will monitor them closely over the next 72 hours at the hospital, as part of a precautionary isolation period." She added that the risk to the public remains extremely low.
Passengers will receive clinical assessments and testing within 72 hours. They will stay in self-isolation for 45 days and are not allowed to take public transport to their homes. However, they cannot be forced to remain at the facility; public health specialists will assess whether they can isolate at home or another location based on their living arrangements.
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral university teaching hospital NHS foundation trust, said hantavirus is "very different" to Covid and requires "really, really close contact" to spread. If passengers develop symptoms, they will be taken to Royal Liverpool university hospital's tropical diseases unit.
