- Three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German woman — have died since the outbreak began
- Nearly 150 people on board the Dutch luxury vessel MV Hondius; all classified as high-risk contacts
- Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, US, UK, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and others sent evacuation planes
UK HEALTH authorities are gearing up to receive about 24 people from a virus-hit cruise ship, who will be isolated in a hospital once used for Covid patients, NHS officials said.
Spain has begun the evacuation process of passengers from the hantavirus-hit Dutch ship, the MV Hondius, anchored near Tenerife on Sunday (10), with health officials boarding the boat to conduct a final check and begin disembarking passengers, Spain's health ministry said.
Most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home to their home countries after weeks at sea, in a carefully prepared repatriation effort.
Among them are about 24 British passengers and crew, as well as two people from Ireland. None is currently showing any symptoms of hantavirus.
"In line with advice from the UK Health Security Agency, on arrival they will be taken to a managed setting for clinical assessment and testing," NHS England North West and NHS Cheshire said.
The joint statement with Wirral council and local ambulance and police said the group would initially stay for 72 hours, and arrangements for their further isolation assessed.
Passengers will be shifted to Arrowe Park Hospital
An internal email shared with AFP confirmed the group of about 24 people would be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in northwestern Wirral. It was used to isolate people returning from Wuhan in China and the cruise ship Diamond Princess at the start of the 2020 Covid pandemic.
Since the start of the outbreak, three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died. Others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
The WHO said on Friday (8) it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship.
The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
"We will be welcoming the guests on Sunday and they will all be screened for symptoms before they arrive on-site; nobody showing any symptoms will be transferred here," said Janelle Holmes, chief executive for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, in her email to staff.
"The risk to the general population remains very low and the public can be reassured that established infection control measures will be put in place at every step of the journey," she added.
Irish officials had put plans in place to repatriate two Irish nationals, a health ministry statement said.
On arrival in Ireland, both would be transferred to a Health Service Executive facility and required to quarantine for a period of time, it added.
Large-scale evacuation underway
The ship left for Spain on Wednesday (6) from the coast of Cape Verde after the World Health Organization and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.
A report issued by Spain's health ministry before the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife confirmed the ship had cleared the appropriate health checks before laying anchor.
"According to the information provided by the experts who boarded the ship, the hygiene and environmental conditions are appropriate and they have not detected rodents so transmission by exposure to rodents on board is not likely," the report read.
Countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the US, UK and the Netherlands confirmed on Saturday (9) they had sent planes to evacuate their citizens aboard.
Passengers will not leave the boat until their allocated evacuation plane has arrived, Spanish officials said. Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands where the ship will be disinfected.
(Agencies)
