UK hantavirus outbreak fears soar as 22 Brits isolate close to untimely child unit
The Britons evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship are now in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, sparking fears among locals and hospital patients over the risk of the virus spreading
(Image: Getty Images)
Concerns over a Hantavirus outbreak are escalating as the 22 Britons evacuated from the rat-infected cruise ship, the MV Hondius, are being housed at a Merseyside facility, just a stone’s throw away from families of premature babies and patients in intensive care.
The Brits who were rescued on Monday (May 11) from the doomed vessel at the heart of an international healthcare scandal have been instructed to undergo a 42-day isolation period upon their return to the UK, beginning with a 72-hour stay at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
While the medical evacuation was a relief for those who had been stranded aboard the Dutch-flagged cruiseliner, locals in Merseyside have remained cautious, with anxieties mounting that the lethal hantavirus could breach containment lines.
Fears of an outbreak hit even closer to home for new mum Kim Childs, who has been residing in hospital accommodation near the Wirral hospital for the past month to be nearer to her prematurely born daughter, who is still a patient in Arrowe Park’s intensive care unit (ICU).
The 32 year old recently acquired some new neighbours, with those evacuated from the rat-virus infected ship moving in next door. Not only does she have her daughter’s life to worry about, but now she fears she may infect her own vulnerable child after staying close to the isolating cruise passengers.
It is understood that all that separates her from potential hantavirus exposure is a taped-up door.
“I have got a baby in the ICU. She was born 14 weeks premature and has respiratory issues. If I catch this disease, I am going to be infecting all these babies in the ICU,” she told The Telegraph: “It takes time to get the virus. We are not going to know if we have caught something until it is too late,” she said, adding: “I am very worried.”
The 32 year old mum claimed those residing in the Wirral facility had been “left in the lurch” by health authorities, and hadn’t been supplied with any PPE or masks to protect them from the virus that has already claimed three cruise passengers’ lives so far.
To make matters worse, the new mother only discovered on Sunday (May 10) that the virus-exposed passengers would be relocating next door.
“We could have made other arrangements if they had told us earlier. They have thrown us in the lurch. They haven’t told us anything,” she said.
With her daughter needing to stay in hospital for the next 10 weeks, she and her partner, Matthew Blythin, are trapped as they cannot make the journey to and from their home in Chester.
“We have to live here, we have no other choice,” she said, before explaining that returning to their own quarters at the hospital accommodation has now become challenging, with the pair forced to face confrontations with security staff each time they try to enter the now-heavily monitored zone. “Our names aren’t on the list so we have to argue each time,” she added, revealing another headache for the family, caused by the unwitting, isolating 22.
She’s not the only local with concerns, with residents from across Merseyside sharing similar fears that the hantavirus infection will break loose.
Birkenhead 59 year old Jackie Edwards told The Telegraph she thought officials had downplayed danger posed by the virus.
Speaking outside the Wirral hospital, she said: “I think they are keeping a lot of it under wraps. If they start dropping like flies then I will be worried.”
Meanwhile, 76 year old Paula Lally, who is a full-time carer for her husband, said while those isolating “had to go somewhere, she suspected the reason Wirral had been chosen to be that somewhere had come down to location, location, location.
“We are a peninsula, so they can cut us off if it becomes a pandemic,” she said, before adding: “That’s what everyone is saying. There are only a couple of roads going in and out.”
Chester man Alexander Ward said he found the cruise passengers’ arrival frightening.
“I am not very happy myself. I have got pneumonia, so it could affect my life.,” he said.
The 27 year old roofer had been hospitalised for four days when he discovered the cruise passengers would be housed alongside him.
He learnt of this when coaches transporting the exposed individuals arrived.
“If it is airborne, which it looks like it is, then it could kill me. It could kill a lot of patients if it leaks,” he said, before adding: “They should be on an island.”
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