MV Hondius Passengers Return Home After 72-Hour Quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital

Twenty-two rat virus cruise passengers from the MV Hondius are set to return home after 72 hours in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral, following evacuation to Britain after a hantavirus outbreak.

The group will leave Arrowe Park Hospital after 72 hours, but they must isolate for a further 42 days at home as authorities fight to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

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UK Health and Security Agency chief scientific officer Professor Robin May said, "We are grateful to the passengers for their cooperation and patience" as the first assessment period concludes.

The BBC reported that the last passengers and some crew members left a Dutch cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak after disembarking at Granadilla port in south-east Tenerife, with three deaths including "a Dutch couple and a German woman."

While the UKHSA and Reuters-linked figures described the outbreak as limited, the BBC said the WHO had so far reported nine cases in total, seven confirmed and two suspected, as countries responded with different quarantine rules.

In the U.S., Dr. Brendan Jackson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, "We want to do this in the least restrictive way possible," while NBC News reported that experts were divided over whether quarantine should be at home or in federal facilities.

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The BBC also described how the risk was managed across borders, saying passengers advised to self-isolate and monitor symptoms for six weeks, and it quoted Health Minister Mónica García saying a Spanish passenger was "in a stable condition" after testing positive.

In France, Dr. Xavier Lescure at Bichat Hospital said the French passenger was on life support with an artificial lung, and the Boston Herald reported that Lescure called it "the final stage of supportive care."

As the MV Hondius operation shifted from evacuation to monitoring, the BBC said returning passengers would be monitored closely, with Public Health Minister Sharon Hodgson adding that none of the passengers were symptomatic but they would be monitored "as part of a precautionary isolation period."

The Associated Press described Jake Rosmarin, 30, expecting to spend 42 days at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and he said, "It’s a very nice room," as nurses brought him an iced horchata with oat milk and vanilla cold foam.

NBC News reported that Dr. Bobbi S. Pritt of the Mayo Clinic said, "We have no evidence of sustained community transmission outside of close contact settings," while Dr. Abraar Karan warned that sending people home "opens up unnecessary risks."

The WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "It’s possible we will see more cases within the next few weeks," as the long incubation period meant additional cases could still emerge after the ship’s passengers left Tenerife.