The British repatriation flight carrying the 20 Britons from the infected MV Hondius has now landed back in the UK after departing from Tenerife earlier. According to the latest health update, all were said to be asymptomatic. The evacuation of those stranded on board the cruise ship, which is at the centre of a Hantavirus outbreak, has been carried out gradually throughout the day under strict medical supervision.
A statement from several hospital trusts said that they will be taken to a “managed setting for clinical assessment and testing”. They will be kept for the following 72 hours in the Arrowe Park hospital site, Wirral, Merseyside, under strict control. The site at Arrowe Park was used during the COVID pandemic for Britons being flown back from China at the start of the outbreak. If the passengers remain without symptoms, they will be asked to isolate at home for 45 days.
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust, which oversees Arrowe Park, said: “Hopefully they’ll have had a good night’s sleep. Obviously, they’re coming with very little belongings so we’ve made sure that they’ve got everything that they need. [Then they’ll be] probably contacting family and friends from a checking perspective.
“We’ll do welfare checks on each individual. They’ll all be in self-contained flats, with phone access etc. But obviously, the specialist medical team are on site with them all the time.”
The MV Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning, with Spanish authorities beginning evacuations of the cruise ship by nationality and ferrying passengers to a port by small boat.
It comes as one of the five French passengers rescued from the MV Hondius and flown home earlier today has hantavirus symptoms, France’s prime minister has said.
PM Sebastien Lecornu said: “These five passengers were immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice.”