Passengers are being evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship after a hantavirus outbreak, with Britons set to be flown home to isolate at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. A total of eight cases, including three deaths, have been reported linked to the ship.
Passengers are being removed from a cruise liner struck by a hantavirus outbreak this morning, after the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife. British travellers aboard are now set to be flown back to quarantine at the UK's original coronavirus >Covid isolation facility.
The MV Hondius reached Tenerife on Sunday morning, with Spanish authorities commencing evacuations organised by passengers' nationalities. The UK Health Security Agency confirmed that British passengers will be transported to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, following their return to the UK via a chartered aircraft.
Representatives from the UKHSA and Foreign Office were expected to meet the MV Hondius upon its arrival in Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands, with British passengers undergoing hantavirus testing prior to disembarkation. Those who test negative and show no symptoms will be escorted directly to a specially chartered repatriation flight, equipped with medical staff and personal protective equipment including face masks.
In a social media update on Sunday morning, World Health Organisation director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: '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 their return to the UK, passengers will be accommodated in a dedicated block at the Arrowe Park site, situated away from the hospital's public-facing areas, where they will undergo clinical assessments and testing as a precautionary step. The facility previously served as Britain's first Covid quarantine centre, with blue tarpaulin fencing surrounding accommodation blocks being installed on Sunday morning, reports the Irish Mirror .
Emergency services across the North West of England indicated that passengers are anticipated to remain in the 'managed setting' for as long as 72 hours. They emphasised that the NHS Trust and hospital continue 'operating as normal' with no danger posed to patients, visitors or staff, stressing that 'people should continue to come forward for care as usual'.
After their period of isolation, public health experts will determine whether passengers may self-isolate at home or another appropriate venue depending on their domestic circumstances. British nationals returning to the UK will remain in self-isolation for 45 days and will be prohibited from using public transport to reach their residences. The WHO confirmed on Saturday that no symptomatic passengers were aboard the MV Hondius, while the UKHSA maintained the risk to the public 'remains very low'.
The UN health body reported six confirmed hantavirus cases connected to the MV Hondius, with four patients presently receiving hospital treatment. The agency confirmed that eight cases in total had been recorded, including three fatalities, with one previously suspected case now ruled out after testing negative for hantavirus. According to the UKHSA, three of the eight cases involve British nationals – two confirmed hantavirus infections and one suspected case.
The two confirmed British patients are receiving treatment in hospitals in South Africa and the Netherlands, while the third British national with a suspected infection is receiving support on Tristan da Cunha, the British overseas territory where they reside. A team comprising six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade were parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic island, alongside oxygen supplies and medical equipment dropped onto Tristan da Cunha, which is typically only reachable by sea.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed this marked the first occasion medical personnel had been parachuted in to deliver humanitarian assistance. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
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