Evacuated Britons from Hantavirus-Stricken Cruise Ship Not Legally Required to Self-Isolate
A recent development has revealed that the 22 British passengers who were evacuated from the hantavirus-infected cruise ship MV Hondius cannot be legally forced to self-isolate once they are released from Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral. These individuals have already spent 72 hours at the former Covid quarantine hospital and are now being asked to complete a 42-day isolation period. However, health officials are relying on voluntary cooperation unless there is a clear risk to the public.
The situation has sparked growing concern among families staying within the hospital complex, where a taped-up door separates relatives of vulnerable babies from those isolating after the outbreak. Kim Childs, a 32-year-old mother from Chester, whose premature baby is being treated in intensive care at Arrowe Park Hospital, expressed her worries about the proximity of virus-exposed passengers.
Childs said: “I have a baby who 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 added that she only learned about the passengers moving in after hearing it from a passerby and could have made other arrangements if she had been informed earlier.
Worried locals in the Wirral area questioned why the passengers had not remained isolated at sea. One resident wrote online: “They were on a bloody ship, how much more quarantined can you get than being on a ship in the middle of the sea. Why not isolate on the ship?” Another suggested: “The best solution would have been to leave them all on the ship for a longer holiday with medical staff.”
Some also questioned why the group had been brought to Merseyside again, asking: “Why the Wirral again, not London?”
A Familiar Scene
It is a tragically familiar sight – a coach full of masked Britons taken to hospital under cover of darkness. But this time, the 22 passengers – terrified of a deadly virus – had arrived from the Canary Islands, not Wuhan, China. Their cruise ship, MV Hondius, had been stranded off the west African coast near Cape Verde after it was turned away following news of the rat-borne hantavirus spreading on board.
In scenes reminiscent of the Covid pandemic, upon arriving in Manchester, they were sent to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside – the same facility where the first Britons flown out of Wuhan were brought to isolate six years ago.
Hantavirus Outbreak and Passenger Details
The hantavirus outbreak has been linked to three deaths so far – a Dutchman, his wife who tested positive and later died in South Africa, and a passenger from Germany. The ship finally reached Tenerife on Sunday, with the remaining passengers screened, hosed down with water, and sent home on repatriation flights.
Twenty Britons, along with one passenger from Japan and a German with UK residency, landed in Manchester later that night. They will spend 72 hours in Arrowe Park before self-isolating at home for 42 days. One of those who stayed there in 2020 said it felt ‘surreal’ to see more Britons taken into isolation.
Matt Raw, of Knutsford, Cheshire, told the Daily Mail: “It’s the ideal facility – it’s perfectly comfortable and there were medical staff on hand 24 hours a day.” He recalled locals sending games to the hospital to keep them entertained, adding: “Part of me wants to believe the location was chosen for the simple reason that the people of Wirral are probably the most friendly in England.”
Public Concern and Health Officials’ Response
But not everyone was pleased to have isolating patients on their doorstep again. Many expressed anger online, with photos of those taking off their masks on the coach offering little reassurance.
Local health chiefs insisted the risk of hantavirus to the general public remained ‘very low’. In a joint statement, health trusts, police and the council said Arrowe Park was operating ‘completely normally’, and that passengers were isolating ‘as a precaution’.
It came as two passengers were confirmed to have the virus after being evacuated. Spain, the World Health Organisation and cruise firm Oceanwide Expeditions said none of the 140 remaining passengers were showing symptoms when they docked in Tenerife.
However, a French woman felt unwell during her flight home and was last night in a ‘serious condition’ in hospital. Four other French passengers on the same flight were placed under a strict lockdown. A US citizen who was flown home also tested ‘mildly positive’ for hantavirus, according to the Department of Health. And another was reportedly showing minor symptoms last night.
MV Hondius’ captain Jan Dobrogowski praised his crew and passengers last night, saying: “I’ve witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength.”
Two Britons – one who was medically evacuated off the ship to South Africa and another, retired police officer Martin Anstee, 56, who was taken to the Netherlands – were both recovering in hospital yesterday.
