A hospital close to Liverpool that treated the first Covid patients in the UK has confined British passengers who were removed from the Hantavirus cruise ship.
After arriving in Manchester last night on a chartered Titan Airways flight from Tenerife, where they eventually managed to flee the MV Hondius cruise liner, some 22 passengers are facing six weeks of self-isolation.
Before boarding, the twenty Britons, one German who lived in the UK, and one Japanese passenger underwent a Hantavirus test. They were then transported by coach to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral in Merseyside.
As more travellers worldwide have been afflicted with the illness, worries about additional instances are intensifying.
The Department of Health and Human Services revealed on Sunday night that one of the 17 Americans evacuated off the ship had tested positive for Hantavirus, while another had experienced “mild symptoms.”
Additionally, a British person was evacuated to the United States.
On a chartered aircraft from Tenerife to Paris, a French passenger also started exhibiting symptoms of the virus.
All five French nationals who were evacuated were “immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice,” according to French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Arrowe Park Hospital is the destination of the bus transporting British passengers from the MV Hondius.
After landing in Manchester, one of the British citizens on the coach to the hospital
The evacuated passengers will self-isolate at Arrowe Park Hospital, as seen from a drone.
As they undergo clinical evaluations and testing, the passengers who were evacuated to the UK will now spend 72 hours in dedicated self-isolation flats.
Following that, medical professionals will determine whether to move the travellers to another location or allow them to isolate themselves at home for the remaining 45 days.
Passengers, crew, drivers, and medical staff all wore personal protective equipment (PPE) as part of strict infection control procedures during the trip to the hospital.
As they were bussed from the ship to the airport at Granadilla Port in Tenerife, some of the passengers waved to the cameras. Later, they were spotted wearing blue gowns and facemasks on the coach that arrived at the hospital close to Liverpool.
The first UK patients diagnosed with Covid in January 2020 were housed in Arrowe Park, a six-story complex of self-contained apartments with their own beds, toilets, kitchens, and living areas.
Arrowe Park will do “welfare checks on each individual,” according to Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
“No one being transferred to us has been symptomatic in any way,” she continued.The hospital is unaffected. Patients should continue to show up for their appointments; services are operating as usual.
Passengers will be transported to Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which is home to the regional Tropical and Infectious Diseases Unit, if they exhibit symptoms, according to the hospital administrator.
As British passengers get off the MV Hondius and travel by coach to the airport at Granadilla Port in Tenerife, a man waves.
After being evacuated from the MV Hondius, Americans land on the coast.
The aircraft carrying repatriated passengers is landing at Manchester Airport.
According to Ms. Holmes, the risk to the general public is “really low” and Hantavirus is “very different” from Covid.
“You have to have really, really close contact,” she continued. It’s not the same as the flu, COVID, or other viruses.
For 45 days, British citizens returning to the UK will be placed in self-isolation and prohibited from using public transport to get home.
The Japanese passenger was taken by the UK government at the Tokyo government’s request, and they will finish their isolation in the UK in accordance with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidelines.
Passengers will be in daily communication with UKHSA health protection experts during their isolation period to monitor their well-being and make sure they receive the support they need to isolate securely.
The risk to the general population is “extremely low,” according to Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at UKHSA, and individuals can “carry on your daily business.”
Scientists are “working quite intensely” to learn more about the Hantavirus, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “What we’ve seen so far is the individuals who have apparently contracted it from each other have been in very close contact.” “We believe the virus primarily spreads from people who have symptoms, so the risk from someone who is asymptomatic is extremely low.” For instance, they may have shared a cabin or had very close contact with someone who has severe symptoms.It’s not the same as most people’s private living arrangements, and it’s definitely not the same as people who might pass someone in the street, for example. If you consider the cruise ship setting, you know, this is a very close living situation, so perhaps an area where spread is more likely. Therefore, there is very little risk there.
After being evacuated from the MV Hondius, medical personnel converse with an American citizen.
After contracting the Hantavirus, the cruise ship MV Hondius arrives at the port of Tenerife.
Iframes are not supported by your browser.
“None of the passengers are symptomatic, but we will closely monitor them over the next 72 hours at the hospital, as part of a precautionary isolation period,” stated Public Health Minister Sharon Hodgson. “With no cases or symptoms among them and both our stringent monitoring and isolation measures, the risk to the public remains extremely low.”
“Thank you to all those who worked around the clock to get passengers from MV Hondius back to the UK by special flight this evening with public health protections in place,” wrote Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in a post on X.To ensure safe returns, the UK has collaborated with Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the World Health Organization.
After being evacuated from the cruise ship, about 17 Americans and one Briton arrived in the US; the two passengers with symptoms travelled in the plane’s biocontainment units.
Hantavirus has been identified in one case, but no formal diagnosis has been made for the second passenger exhibiting symptoms. Early on Monday, the plane was scheduled to land in Omaha, Nebraska.
Spanish police started evacuating the cruise liner by nationality as soon as the MV Hondius landed in Tenerife on Sunday morning. Passengers were then transported to a port by small boat.
With the exception of the thirty crew members who were still on board, the WHO stated that its objective was to complete the ship’s evacuation by Monday at 7 p.m.
Only a tiny bag containing necessities like their passport and phone was permitted, and passengers were instructed to leave their bags aboard the ship.
On Sunday, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced that 94 individuals from 19 different countries had been removed from the cruise ship.
Mr. Lecornu stated on Sunday that during their return flight, one of five French passengers displayed symptoms.
He said in a post on X that all five were “immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice,” where they would receive medical attention and go through additional tests.
According to Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Kayla Thomas, “One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.” One of the 17 Americans scheduled to arrive on an evacuation flight to Nebraska early on Monday tested positive for the virus without exhibiting symptoms, according to US health officials.
The ship will travel to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where it will be disinfected, while the 30 crew members, a Dutch nurse, and the body of a passenger who died on board will stay on board, according to the WHO.
Six confirmed hantavirus cases connected to the MV Hondius were reported by the WHO on Saturday, and four of the victims were hospitalised.
Eight cases, including three fatalities, have been reported, it continued, with one prior suspected case being reclassified after a hantavirus test came back negative.
Three British citizens are among the eight cases, according to the UKHSA; two are confirmed hantavirus, and one is suspected.
The third British citizen with a suspected case is receiving treatment on the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha, where they reside, while the two confirmed British cases are in hospitals in South Africa and the Netherlands.
Oxygen supplies and medical assistance were dropped onto the South Atlantic island along with six paratroopers, an RAF consultant, and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade.
It was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to offer humanitarian assistance, according to the Ministry of Defence.
