British passengers of a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak have been evacuated from the vessel, as they prepare to be flown home to isolate at the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site.
The MV Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning, with Spanish authorities beginning evacuations of the ship by nationality and ferrying passengers to a port by small boat.
A chartered Titan Airways flight was scheduled to evacuate Britons on Sunday afternoon, with the Airbus A320’s passengers then to be taken from Manchester Airport to isolate at the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site.
While they were being bussed from the port at Granadilla de Abona to Tenerife South Airport, some British passengers waved and gave thumbs up while clad in blue PPE as they passed watching media.
Some 22 British nationals were taken to shore – with 20 to get on the repatriation flight and two dual-nationals to head elsewhere, Sky News reported.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said its goal was to finish the ship’s evacuation, with the exception of 30 crew members remaining on board, by 7pm on Monday.
Passengers have been told to leave their luggage on the ship and are only allowed to take a small bag with essential items such as their phone and passport.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said British passengers and crew will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, after being repatriated to the UK.
Spanish authorities said on Sunday that no passengers on the ship were showing symptoms of the virus, with 14 Spanish nationals who formed the first group to be evacuated from the vessel being flown to a hospital in Madrid.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Tenerife on Sunday that the outbreak was “not another Covid and the risk to the public is low”.
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Officials from the UKHSA and Foreign Office greeted the MV Hondius when it docked in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, with Britons on board tested for hantavirus before they disembark.
Those who tested negative and did not display symptoms were taken straight to a chartered repatriation flight staffed by medical professionals containing personal protective equipment such as face masks.
After returning to the UK, the passengers will be housed and provided with clothes at an accommodation block on the Arrowe Park site away from the hospital’s public areas to receive clinical assessments and testing as a precautionary measure.
The hospital was used as the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site, with blue tarped fences around accommodation blocks being erected on Sunday morning.
Emergency services in the North West of England said they expected the passengers to be kept in the “managed setting” for up to 72 hours.
They added that the NHS Trust and hospital is “operating as normal” with no risk to patients, visitors or staff and “people should continue to come forward for care as usual”.
Following their isolation, public health specialists will assess whether passengers can isolate at home or at another suitable location based on their living arrangements.
Britons returning to the UK will stay in self-isolation for 45 days and will not be allowed to take public transport to their homes.
Some 30 crew members and a nurse from the Netherlands, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to Rotterdam in the Netherlands where it will undergo disinfection, the WHO said.
WHO said on Saturday there had been six confirmed hantavirus cases linked to MV Hondius and four patients were currently in hospital.
It added that a total of eight cases, including three deaths, had been reported – with one previous suspected case being reclassified after testing negative for hantavirus.
The UKHSA said three British nationals are included in the eight cases – two involve confirmed hantavirus and another one is suspected.
The two confirmed British cases are in hospital in South Africa and the Netherlands, while the third British national with a suspected case is being supported on the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha where they live.
Six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade were parachuted onto the South Atlantic island, while oxygen supplies and medical aid was also dropped on Tristan da Cunha, which is normally only accessible by boat.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support.