22 Brits on hantavirus cruise ship to be flown again house to UK this weekend

Officials from the UKHSA and Foreign Office will greet the MV Hondius when it docks in Tenerife on Sunday, with passengers expected to be tested for hantavirus before repatriation to the UK

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Britons are being airlifted home from the virus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius, with passengers and crew set to touch down on British soil on Sunday. Around 22 British passengers and crew aboard the vessel, which was struck by a hantavirus outbreak, are expected to reach Tenerife on Sunday, with plans to fly them back to the UK the same day.

Representatives from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Foreign Office will meet the MV Hondius when it arrives at the Canary Islands port, with Brits on board undergoing hantavirus testing before disembarking.

Should people test negative and show no symptoms, they will be transported directly to a specially arranged repatriation flight, with hopes of returning them to the UK within the hour, reports the Mirror.

The aircraft will be crewed by medical experts and equipped with specialist kit and medication should anyone become unwell during the journey.

The vessel is presently on course to reach Tenerife on Sunday, weather permitting, as it travels from waters off Cape Verde.

Most returning Brits are anticipated to quarantine at home, though the UKHSA is organising alternative accommodation for those unable to do so, with further details to be announced later.

Two British men are currently receiving treatment for hantavirus in the Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa, while a third British man showing symptoms is being looked after on the isolated South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha. The Foreign Office has confirmed that 30 passengers and crew members from the MV Hondius are British, with 22 remaining on board.

Seven Brits disembarked the vessel in St Helena on 23 April, including the British man suspected of having hantavirus who left the ship at Tristan da Cunha.

Two Britons who departed the ship at St Helena have since flown back to the UK and are currently self-isolating, despite showing no symptoms.

Four Brits remain on St Helena, while another has been located and contacted in an undisclosed country outside of the UK.

All individuals who came into contact with the British nationals who disembarked the ship are being traced and contacted by the UKHSA, although it’s unclear how many people this involves.

The Foreign Office is maintaining daily contact with the 22 British passengers and crew still aboard the ship, addressing any queries they may have. At present, none are displaying symptoms of hantavirus.

It’s understood that anyone developing symptoms before the ship docks will receive treatment in the Canary Islands.

A team from the Foreign Office and UKHSA is stationed in Tenerife, ready to welcome the passengers as they disembark.

Upon returning to the UK, Brits will not be permitted to use public transport to travel home for self-isolation.

They will be required to self-isolate for 45 days and carry out self-testing. Additional testing will be conducted once the 45-day isolation period concludes.

UKHSA specialists continue to investigate how the virus spreads between individuals, with earlier outbreaks indicating people must be in close proximity and most transmission happens when symptoms are present.

Authorities don’t believe the current strain from the vessel is more contagious than in previous instances, though research is continuing to examine the virus.

Nine confirmed cases of hantavirus have been connected to a cruise ship so far, including the two British men, along with the additional suspected case in a British man.

Five of the nine cases overall are confirmed hantavirus, while four others remain suspected cases.

The isolated islands of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha all sit in the South Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Africa and South America.

Approximately 30 people are now understood to have disembarked the cruise ship when it arrived in St Helena near the end of April, including a Dutch woman who fell ill during subsequent travel and passed away.

Three people in total have died in connection with the outbreak.

In a statement on Friday, the UKHSA said: “UK Government staff will be on the ground ready to support the British nationals disembarking.

“British passengers and ship crew not displaying any symptoms of hantavirus will be escorted by UK Government staff to an airport and given free passage back to the UK.”

It said Foreign Office officials and UKHSA teams will continue to support all passengers. The statement added: “UKHSA is working with partners to ensure the flight operates under strict infection control measures.

“Public health and infectious disease specialists from UKHSA and the NHS will be on board to monitor British nationals while on the flight, to ensure that preventative measures are in place and to provide any care in the unlikely event that any passengers become unwell on the flight.

“Follow-up is already under way for individuals who may have been in contact with cases and have since returned to the UK or are in in UK Overseas Territories.”

The 69 year old British man who was removed from the vessel displaying symptoms is currently receiving intensive care treatment at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg, and is said to be recovering.

Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, was taken off the ship on Wednesday and transported to the Netherlands to receive specialist medical care. He is also recovering.

The outbreak has been traced back to a bird-watching excursion in Argentina that two passengers participated in prior to embarking on the vessel.

This development comes as Spain’s health secretary, Javier Padilla, confirmed a suspected hantavirus case in Alicante.

Reports from El Pais newspaper suggest it involves a traveller who shared the same flight as the patient who died in Johannesburg.

Professor Sir Peter Horby, head of the pandemic sciences institute at the University of Oxford, stated: “I believe the UKHSA, Foreign Office and NHS are taking all the right and necessary measures to protect the UK citizens involved in this challenging incident and to protect the broader UK population.

“Repatriation and isolation is the right thing to do, morally and scientifically.”