Cruise Nightmare Ends as Passengers Set to Go Home

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Passengers aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak, are finally set to evacuate onto dry land.

The 150 passengers, including 17 Americans, will be ferried to the shore of Tenerife, an island off the coast of Spain, and then flown back to their home countries, where they will quarantine and isolate.

According to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the evacuation process will be conducted with serious precautions.

Passengers will be taken by authorities “at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries,” Ghebreyesus said.

The ship has reported eight confirmed cases of the Andes strain rat-borne disease, including three deaths.

According to Ghebreyesus, none of those currently on board have shown any symptoms as of Saturday.

France has already repatriated five of its citizens on Sunday after they were placed in isolation.

One of the individuals developed symptoms, and eight French nationals were in close contact during the flight back to France, but no one has been confirmed to test positive for the virus.

https://www.wsj.com/world/hantavirus-cruise-ship-arrives-as-passengers-prepare-for-repatriation-1bbf8528">Read it at Wall Street Journal

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cruise-nightmare-ends-as-passengers-set-to-go-home/">Read more at The Daily Beast.