Quarantine Measures for Cruise Ship Passengers Returning to Australia
Australian passengers returning from a cruise ship affected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak will be placed in quarantine at the Bullsbrook quarantine centre near Perth. This measure aims to prevent the virus from spreading further within the country.
An Australian flight is scheduled to arrive in the Canary Islands on Monday to rescue passengers who were on board the MV Hondius. Among those rescued are four Australians and one permanent resident, who will then be flown to Perth on a Commonwealth-assisted flight. A New Zealand citizen will also be on board this flight.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler stated that Western Australia will be the first port of call for the passengers arriving on this flight. “Those Australians and that New Zealander will be landed at RAAF base Pearce and those six people will be transferred immediately to that quarantine facility directly next door to the RAAF base,” he said.
Butler explained that the Bullsbrook facility was one of the Centres for National Resilience established during the last pandemic. “It is still there. It is currently owned by the Commonwealth government and will be operated in partnership,” he added.
Hantavirus has been listed as a human disease under the Biosecurity Act to ensure a national, uniform quarantine response. “That listing will happen over the next 24 hours before the return of those Australians and that New Zealander,” Butler said. He noted that the virus has a long incubation period, which can last up to 42 days. “So any question of isolation or quarantine for people potentially exposed to the virus obviously involves quite a long period compared to other viruses.”
Although human-to-human transmission is rare, it has occurred on this cruise ship. The World Health Organisation has reported eight cases, including six that appear to have resulted from transmission from the two original patients. “Of those patients there have already been three deaths,” Butler said.
The federal government believes that quarantine and repatriation should be handled at a national level rather than by individual states. “The Commonwealth has consulted with Western Australia, which was always going to be the first port of entry by this repatriation flight, and also with New South Wales and Queensland directly given all residents are of those two states,” he said.
Butler highlighted that the passengers will have to return on a long flight from Tenerife, unlike traveling to the UK, which might involve a smaller plane with a higher risk of transmission during transit. “A distinguishing factor for Australia, though, is that these passengers will have to come home on quite a long flight from Tenerife,” he said.
The involvement of WA health staff will depend on the condition of the passengers, and the centre will be operated by contract through the federal government.
The $400 million Bullsbrook centre was built to assist with the nation’s pandemic efforts, but by the time it was completed in September 2022, the state had opened its borders, leaving the building dormant. It has since become a point of contention, with issues surrounding its use for housing the homeless, students, and migrants due to its proximity to Perth’s CBD.
The centre is currently managed by the Commonwealth’s Department of Finance. WA Premier Roger Cook stated his government is ready to assist with the operation. “The federal government, of course, is undertaking the medical evacuation of them,” he said. “My public health teams stand ready to assist them with whatever challenges or mission outcomes they’re looking for.”
When asked if the community is at risk of contamination from the passengers, Cook expressed confidence in the arrangements made by the Commonwealth. However, Australian Medical Association Western Australia president Dr Kyle Hoath said there is no need for public concern over the spread of the virus. “At this stage there are plans in place to manage the cases as they come into WA,” he said.
Hoath emphasized that hantavirus requires very close contact to spread, making it less transmissible than COVID-19. “People don’t spread the hantavirus unless they are symptomatic and it normally takes quite a while for them to become symptomatic,” he said. “So it is a bit of a slower process than what we would have seen with covid.”
