Australia will charter a plane to evacuate its citizens from a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, and the passengers will be quarantined upon their return, the government said on Monday.
According to the World Health Organization as of Friday, eight people no longer on board the MV Hondius have fallen ill, six of whom have been confirmed to have the virus. Three people have died — a Dutch couple and a German national, Reuters reports.
Environment Minister Murray Watt said four people from Australia, one resident of Tenerife and one resident of New Zealand would be repatriated.
"This is being done on a flight supported by the Australian government and we expect these people to return to Australia shortly," Mr Watt told reporters in Canberra.
Health Minister Mark Butler told a press conference that the passengers would be placed in a quarantine facility in Western Australia for at least three weeks upon their return.
"I want to emphasize that our primary responsibility as a government, of course, is to preserve the safety and health of our community," he said.
"We also have a responsibility to these travelers — to get them home and protect them from any risk, no matter how small, of potentially transmitting the virus without them knowing it."
New Zealand's Director of Public Health, Corina Gray, said on Monday that the country's health services have the capacity to support potential quarantine measures, if needed.
Spain, France and the United States have evacuated their citizens from the MV Hondius, which is docked near Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, officials said. One U.S. citizen has tested positive for the virus, while another has mild symptoms.
The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all travelers, while experts have called for calm, reminding the public, marked by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, that this virus is significantly less contagious and poses a low risk.
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