Cruise passengers returning home after virus outbreak
Groups of passengers and crew disembarked from a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak to return to their home countries, where they will isolate to prevent further spread of the disease.
According to the statement made by the governments of the two countries, government planes carrying Spanish and French citizens landed in Madrid and Paris on Sunday afternoon and the passengers were transferred to the hospital there.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement on channel X that one in five French passengers showed symptoms during the repatriation flight.
The flights to Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States were scheduled to depart at 20.30 local time on Sunday, and the last flight, the Australian flight, was scheduled to depart at 19.00 on Monday.
Travelers will be tested upon arrival and then either taken to local hospitals or quarantine facilities or transported home for isolation.
The World Health Organization recommends a 42-day quarantine for all passengers arriving from the MV Hondius starting Sunday, Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic management at the World Health Organization, said at a briefing.
According to the respective governments, Spanish passengers will be kept in hospital for 42 days, while French passengers will be kept in hospital for 72 hours, after which they will be allowed to self-isolate at home for a further 45 days.
Emphasizing that the incubation period of the virus is up to six weeks, Van Kerkhove said, “Our recommendation is daily health checks at home or in a private facility. It is the responsibility of countries to develop their policies, but our recommendations are very clear.”
The virus, which is usually spread by rodents but can also be transmitted from person to person in rare cases of close contact, was first detected by health officials treating a British man who fell ill and was admitted to intensive care in Johannesburg on May 2, 21 days after the death of another traveler.
The man’s health has since improved, a WHO official said Sunday.
The WHO said the first passenger to die on the ship may have been infected before boarding, possibly during her trip to Argentina and Chile.
Eight people no longer on the ship fell ill, six of whom were confirmed to have the virus, according to a WHO count on Friday.
Three people died: a Dutch couple and a German citizen.
Four people remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
On the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, a suspected case is being treated by a team of medical experts parachuted in by the military.
Still, health officials appealed for calm to the public, who have been scarred by the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, reminding them that this virus is much less contagious and poses little risk to the general population.
A woman in Spain who was tested for the virus after sharing a flight with one of the victims tested negative.
“This is not COVID and we don’t want to treat it like COVID,” acting US CDC director Jay Bhattacharya said in an interview with CNN on Sunday, adding that the 17 US passengers on the ship would be given the option of isolating at home or at a facility in Nebraska.
Spain’s health ministry also downplayed the risk to the wider population.
It was stated that no rodents were found on the ship.
Thirty crew members will remain on the cruise ship and depart for the Netherlands on Monday evening, where the ship will be disinfected.
Turkish bird watcher Emin Yoğurtçuoğlu, who served as a passenger on the ship, shared on Instagram, “Thank God, we are all fine… I hope we can get through the quarantine process without any problems and see our family and friends again.” he said.
with AP
