UK To Isolate Cruise Ship Passengers In Former Covid Hospital

British health authorities were preparing to isolate about 24 passengers and crew members from a virus-hit cruise ship at a hospital previously used during the Covid-19 pandemic, as officials intensified efforts to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to the vessel.

The group, currently aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, is expected to arrive off Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday before being repatriated to the United Kingdom.

According to NHS officials, the British nationals, alongside two Irish citizens, will undergo clinical assessment and testing upon arrival despite showing no symptoms of hantavirus.

“In line with advice from the UK Health Security Agency, on arrival they will be taken to a managed setting for clinical assessment and testing,” NHS England North West and NHS Cheshire said in a joint statement issued alongside Wirral Council, ambulance services, and police authorities.

The statement added that the passengers would initially remain in isolation for 72 hours while further arrangements regarding quarantine measures are assessed.

An internal NHS email obtained by AFP revealed that the group would be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, northwestern England, the same facility that housed British nationals evacuated from Wuhan, China, and passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, sought to reassure the public over safety concerns surrounding the operation.

“We will be welcoming the guests on Sunday 10 May 2026 and they will all be screened for symptoms before they arrive on-site; nobody showing any symptoms will be transferred here,” Holmes said in the email to staff.

“The risk to the general population remains very low and the public can be reassured that established infection control measures will be put in place at every step of the journey,” she added.

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has already claimed three lives; a Dutch couple and a German woman, while several others reportedly fell ill from the rare rodent-borne disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed on Friday that six cases had been verified from eight suspected infections linked to the outbreak. The agency added that there were currently no remaining suspected cases on board the ship.

The MV Hondius had been sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected passengers were evacuated earlier this week for medical treatment.

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez said the vessel was expected to arrive in Tenerife between 0300 and 0500 GMT on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Irish authorities are also making arrangements to repatriate two Irish nationals aboard the ship. Irish broadcaster RTE reported that officials are finalising plans to dispatch an aircraft for their evacuation.

Most of the nearly 150 passengers and crew on the vessel are expected to be flown back to their respective home countries following weeks stranded at sea amid the health scare.