Hantavirus cruise ship enter isolation facility in Wirral after evacuation to UK

Passengers evacuated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak are spending their first day at an isolation facility after being repatriated from Tenerife. A chartered Titan Airways flight transported the MV Hondius passengers from the Canary Islands to Manchester airport on Sunday evening. The evacuation of passengers of all nationalities will be completed on Monday, with flights arriving from Australia and the Netherlands, Spain’s health minister has said. The UK’s initial Covid quarantine site at Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral, Merseyside , is being used to house 20 British passengers who were tested for hantavirus before boarding the flight. One German national, who is a UK resident, and one Japanese passenger are also being monitored there. The Japanese passenger, whom the UK government took at Tokyo’s request, will complete their isolation in line with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance. The MV Hondius in Tenerife on Monday. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters A flight from Australia will evacuate six passengers from Tenerife and another from the Netherlands will take 18 passengers, with both flights also carrying passengers from other countries that did not send their own repatriation flights, officials have said. Eight people no longer on the ship have fallen ill, according to a World Health Organization tally from Friday, of whom six are confirmed to have contracted the virus. Three people have died – a Dutch couple and a German national. …