Britons on hantavirus-hit ship to be asked to isolate back in UK for 45 days

Two British nationals who left MV Hondius before outbreak was detected are already self-isolating at home, say officials British passengers onboard a cruise ship hit with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days, a health official has suggested, as two passengers who left the vessel continue to isolate at home in Britain. Neither of the two Britons who left MV Hondius at Saint Helena in late April are reporting symptoms, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKSA). A British crew member was medically evacuated from the ship after falling ill and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care. The Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight for remaining Britons onboard the ship who are not displaying symptoms, so they can be repatriated once docking Tenerife in the coming days. Three people on the MV Hondius have died since 11 April. As of Thursday, there have been eight suspected cases, three of which were confirmed as hantavirus – a rare family of viruses carried by rodents – by lab testing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “It’s important to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains very low,” sai