Eight passengers and two crew from the hantavirus-hit Hondius cruise ship are being flown from the British islands of St. Helena and Ascension in the South Atlantic back to the United Kingdom for observation, most likely at Arrowe Park Hospital near Liverpool. Photo by Adam Vaughan/EPA
May 13 (UPI) -- Ten suspected hantavirus patients are being flown from the British islands of St. Helena and Ascension in the South Atlantic back to the United Kingdom to complete their self-isolation at a former COVID-19 facility, the country's main infectious diseases agency said.
The eight passengers and two crew from the hantavirus-hit Hondius cruise ship are part of a program to relocate "some contacts who are already isolating to places where they can safely self-isolate with access to appropriate specialist medical services," the U.K. Health Security Agency said in a news release on Tuesday.
"England's National Health Service high consequence infectious disease network is well equipped to respond if they become unwell. Currently none of these contacts are symptomatic and this is precautionary to support communities in U.K. overseas territories," the agency said.
The patients being flown to Britain all left the MV Hondius when it stopped in St. Helena on April 24, with the ship going on to Cape Verde, where it was refused permission to dock, before finally disembarking on Tenerife on Sunday.
