Hantavirus pilots to fly home after one night of quarantine with passengers
The two pilots and their crew will depart Australia from RAAF Base Pearce on Saturday after escorting passengers from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship to Perth on Friday.
Six travelers arrived in Perth’s northeast on Friday morning to begin a three-week quarantine at a specially built COVID-era centre.
Four Australians, one permanent resident and one New Zealander arrived at RAAF Pearce just after 11am WA time and were soon taken to Bullsbrook National Resilience Centre, about 15 minutes away, under strict health protocols.
The pilots who brought them to Australia spent the night with them in the same facility, isolating voluntarily but separately from the passengers.
On Saturday, non-Australian pilots will leave the country with their flight crew.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said they comply with infection prevention and control requirements, including the use of personal protective equipment.
“Unlike the passengers, they were not subject to the human biosecurity control order,” he said.
“They don’t need to self-isolate or quarantine. There’s no public health indication to keep them in Australia or in a resilience centre.”
“They haven’t entered the Australian community since they arrived yesterday.”
WA Police escorted the pilots to RAAF Base Pearce.
The spokesman said the passengers were in good condition.
“Passengers are being provided with food and other items to support their stay in Bullsbrook,” he said.
“Passengers have settled into their accommodation. None of the passengers have shown any signs of symptoms since their arrival in Australia.”
They are the first to officially use the Bullsbrook Resilience Center after it was built during the COVID pandemic.
The 500-bed, $400 million quarantine facility took so long to complete that it was never put into use.
Passengers will now undergo a more detailed health assessment, including another PCR test for hantavirus.
So far, there has been no ongoing transmission of the virus detected anywhere in the world.
