90-Second Read: 17 Americans anxiously awaiting evacuation from Hantavirus cruise ship — here's what will happen to them

The 17 Americans still stranded aboard the Hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship are set to be evacuated to a quarantine center in Nebraska in the coming days, the CDC said Sunday – but not until after the 13 Spanish nationals aboard disembark. We want to treat it with our Hantavirus protocols that were successful at containing outbreaks in the past." "The key message I want to send to your audience is that this is not COVID. We shouldn't be panicking when the evidence doesn't warrant it." At least three passengers aboard the Hondius have died and five others became seriously ill with Hantavirus, which has an alarming 38% fatality rate. The MV Hondius docked in Tenerife Sunday to begin the weeklong evacuation process for the ship's 147 passengers – who.

The World Health Organization has recommended a 42-day isolation period for the passengers of the ill-fated vessel, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1. Although the American passengers' first stop will be the quarantine facility, health officials are allowing them to check themselves out and go home — so long as they submit to six weeks of additional monitoring. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya downplayed fears that the isolated outbreak would result in a COVID-19-like pandemic on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning. Rooms are outfitted with exercise equipment and even WiFi connectivity for patients requiring extended stays. This is not going to lead to the [same] kind of outbreak," he added.

The American passengers are next up, and will be taken on a US government medical repatriation flight to the National Quarantine Unit, overseen by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center for further evaluation and quarantine. The facility, the only federally-funded quarantine unit in the country, offers 20 single-occupancy rooms, each with their own private bathrooms, and are equipped with negative air pressure systems to ensure the safety of those potentially infected by infectious diseases. Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness," Nebraska Medicine and UNMC said on its website. I don't want to cause a public panic," Bhattacharya told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.