UK health authorities are preparing to receive about 24 people from a cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak, with the group expected to be isolated at a hospital previously used during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The passengers and crew members are currently aboard the Dutch cruise ship, MV Hondius, which is expected to arrive near Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday.
Most of the nearly 150 people on board are set to be evacuated and flown back to their respective countries after spending weeks at sea.
The group heading to the UK includes about 24 British passengers and crew members, alongside two Irish nationals. Authorities said none of them is currently showing symptoms of hantavirus.
According to NHS England North West and NHS Cheshire, the passengers will undergo clinical assessment and testing upon arrival, based on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
Officials said the group would initially remain in isolation for 72 hours while further arrangements are reviewed.
Reports said the passengers would be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, north-west England — the same facility used to isolate people evacuated from Wuhan, China, and passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the Covid outbreak in 2020.
Since the outbreak began, three passengers aboard the ship — a Dutch couple and a German woman — have died, while several others reportedly fell ill with the rare virus, which is commonly spread through rodents.
The World Health Organisation said on Friday that six out of eight suspected cases had been confirmed, adding that there were no remaining suspected cases on the vessel.
The MV Hondius had sailed from Cape Verde, where three infected passengers were evacuated earlier in the week.
Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez said the ship is expected to arrive in Tenerife between 3am and 5am GMT on Sunday.
In a message to hospital staff, Chief Executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, Janelle Holmes, assured that all passengers would be screened before arriving at the facility.
She added that anyone showing symptoms would not be transferred there and stressed that the risk to the general public remains very low.
Meanwhile, Irish authorities are also said to be making arrangements to repatriate the two Irish nationals aboard the ship.