Difficult mission to repatriate hantavirus cruise passengers to Perth quarantine
Difficult mission to repatriate hantavirus cruise passengers to Perth quarantine
Australian and New Zealand travellers from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius return via the Netherlands and into a Bullsbrook quarantine near Perth, in a carefully staged plan.
Australians and New Zealanders who were aboard the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius began a staged repatriation that health minister Mark Butler called a difficult mission. The group was taken to the Netherlands after a last-minute decision, and they will spend up to 48 hours there before boarding a charter flight home to Australia later this week. Once back, they will start the first three weeks of a 42-day quarantine at Bullsbrook national resilience centre, just outside Perth, with the flight crew joining them on the journey home.
In the Netherlands, the six travellers were greeted at a safe distance by Australian ambassador Greg Fench and taken to a quarantine hotel before the charter flight. A medical team will accompany the flight, and refueling arrangements between the Netherlands and Australia have been set up to support the long trip. The government expects the four Australians, one permanent resident and one New Zealand citizen to be back in Australia by week’s end, provided they show no symptoms.
On arrival in Australia, the group will isolate for weeks as part of the 42-day program; the Bullsbrook centre will host the first three weeks. The operation required careful planning to ensure crew isolation and to secure refueling stops, with the Dutch leg restricted to a maximum 48-hour stay. As of late Monday night, none of the travellers were displaying symptoms.
The exercise underscores ongoing efforts to manage hantavirus risks from the MV Hondius, while bringing home citizens under strict health supervision.
