The privately chartered aircraft flew from Tenerife to Manchester this evening
A plane carrying 20 British passengers who were evacuated from a cruise ship following an outbreak of hantavirus has landed in the UK. The British passengers and crew members from the cruise ship arrived on Sunday evening at around 8.40pm after they were evacuated from the MV Hondius in Tenerife earlier today (May 10).
The 20 people brought back to the UK are due to be transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral following their arrival at Manchester where they will monitored for 72 hours and then asked to self-isolate for 45 days. They will be asked to track their symptoms and temperature during this period.
Three people died following the outbreak of the virus on the ship, with one of those, a 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have had the disease which is found in rodents. Two other passengers have also died, with their cases currently being investigated.
Before the plane departed, the passengers were spotted waving and signalling thumbs up to the onlooking pack of media in Tenerife as they travelled in face masks and blue PPE. The ECHO revealed the plans to bring the Britons to Merseyside over the weekend, with the ship docking in Tenerife on Sunday morning.
The Trust and Arrowe Park Hospital is operating as normal. A spokesperson said there is no risk to patients, visitors or staff and people “should continue to come forward for care as usual.”
Chief Executive Janelle Holmes from Wirral University teaching Hospital Trust, said to Sky News: “People will be continuously assessed and screened as they arrive. There is nobody being transferred to us that has been symptomatic in any way, these are guests who have been in potential contact with other passengers on the boat and we need to be absolutely clear that they are well over the next few weeks and days.
“They are coming with little belongings so we make sure they have everything they need, from contacting friends and family to welfare checks. The specialist medical teams will be on site with the Brits at all times. We will respond to any issues that may occur when they are with us.”
She added: “Because of the fact that we were the isolation centre for covid before it was a pandemic, that may trigger some people to feel more anxious but this is an understood known virus that can be managed appropriately so it managed very different and the risk is low. It is not like covid or flu or those type of viruses.
“we have a self contained flat facility close to a hospital if that is required. If any guests had symptoms they would go over to Liverpool to the infectious disease hospital. The proximity and the fact they are close to the hospital, as well as Arrowe Park doing well for Wuhan guests and isolate them safely.”
Ms Holmes continued: “Reassurance this is not covid, this is not the start of covid. This is not the srart of another pandemic. I want to say a massive thank you to the response from all the partners including the police and fire service, Wirral council and UK protection Agency and NHS England.”
It comes six years on from when British people returned from Wuhan in China and were taken to the same block to isolate at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
World Health Organisation (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”.
Officials from the UKHSA and Foreign Office were greeted the MV Hondius when it docked in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, with Britons on board tested for hantavirus before they disembarked.
Those who tested negative and not displaying symptoms were taken straight to chartered repatriation flights staffed by medical professionals and containing personal protective equipment such as face masks.
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”.
A message sent to staff members from the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust Chief Executive, Janelle Holmes, on Saturay, May 9, confirmed the plans.
The message, seen by the ECHO said: “You will be aware that there are a number of British nationals who are expected to fly from Tenerife to the UK following the cases of hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship recently confirmed by the World Health Organization.
“The plan is for the British passengers and ship crew not displaying any symptoms of hantavirus to be escorted by UK government staff and given free passage back to the UK and as a precaution they will remain in isolation.
“We have been asked to house these residents (around 24) as our guests in the accommodation block on the Arrowe Park hospital site to provide them with a safe place for their isolation period.
“We have been asked by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to house the guests, recognising how quickly and positively we responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
