A number of Britons who were urgently evacuated from a cruise ship infected with hantavirus have touched down in the UK.
Twenty passengers landed back in Britain and will be taken to a “managed setting for clinical assessment and testing”.
That will take place at Arrowe Park hospital in Merseyside, where they will be placed into a 72-hour quarantine.
Arrowe Park was used during the Covid pandemic, where Britons flying back from China were placed into quanratine upon their return from China.
All 20 passengers are said to be asymptomatic
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REUTERS
All 20 of the Britons repatriated are said to be asymptomatic and if they remain without symptoms, they will be asked to isolate at home for 45 days.
There were a total of 22 British nationals evacuated from the MV Hondius earlier this morning, however, one is heading to the US and another to Australia.
The US repatriation flight will be taking off later tonight, while the Australia flight will be departing tomorrow.
Earlier today, MV Hondius docked near the port of Granadilla around one nautical mile away from Tenerife.
The ship was not allowed to dock at the shore for security purposes.
Britons stranded on the doomed cruise ship waved and gave a thumbs up after they finally disembarked the vessel.
The President of the Canary Islands has said he “won’t be calm” until all of the passengers and crew members have left the island.
“The risk of contagion for the general population is low,” health minister Mónica García said on Saturday.
“We believe that alarmism, misinformation and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of preserving public health,” she added.
However, fresh fears have arisen after one of the French passengers began showing symptoms on their repatriation flight.
All five evacuated passengers have been put into strict isolation as a result, French President Sebastian Lecornu said.
This repatriation comes after military medics daringly parachuted onto Britain’s most isolated overseas territory to provide urgent healthcare following a suspected Hantavirus infection.
All foreign nationals are set to be repatriated to their home nations after they disembarked on Tenerife
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REUTERS
Personnel from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped from an RAF A400M aircraft onto Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic archipelago in the South Atlantic with just 221 residents and no runway.
The operation marks the first occasion British military clinicians have been deployed via parachute for humanitarian purposes.
Oxygen reserves on the remote island had reached critical levels, making a parachute drop the only viable method of reaching the patient in time.
The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday a British national on the territory was suspected of having contracted the virus.
Eight personnel made the jump, six paratroopers alongside two military clinicians, all serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade.
Simultaneously with the personnel drop, essential oxygen supplies and medical equipment were released onto the island.
The paratroopers faced demanding conditions upon arrival, with Tristan da Cunha’s typical wind speeds frequently surpassing 25 miles per hour.
The reinforcements will bolster the territory’s existing two-person medical team, strengthening healthcare capacity across the isolated community.
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