90-Second Read: French national from Hantavirus cruise ship shows symptoms during airlift

A passenger of a cruise ship that was struck by an outbreak of Hantavirus has shown symptoms of the disease while being repatriated to France, the country's prime minister has said. Sebastian Lecornu said the French national developed symptoms while on a chartered flight from Tenerife to Paris, and so all five evacuated from the MV Hondius had been "immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice". Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain, which the WHO believes was contracted by some of the ship's passengers while in South America, is possible. None of Britons have reported symptoms but are being monitored, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. A plane carrying 26 passengers and crew, including eight Dutch nationals, has arrived in the.

A total of 18 people, all of the Americans and one British national who resides in the US, are in the group bound for the US, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said at a news conference. Spain's Health Secretary Javier Padilla said more than 90 of the 150 passengers and crew of the Hondius will have been sent home by the end of Sunday. The cruise ship dropped anchor in the port of Granadilla earlier on Sunday, and medical teams went aboard at around 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT). Three passengers have died after travelling on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have had the virus. There, they will be quarantined for 72 hours and given a full assessment, before being sent home to self-isolate for 45 days.

The French citizens are among more than 90 tourists to be ferried home from the Dutch vessel on Sunday, which anchored off the Canary Islands before dawn. After the French flight touched down at Le Bourget Airport, officials wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) could be seen meeting them on the tarmac. Ambulances then took them to the Bichat hospital in the French capital. Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath. Five passengers of the MV Hondius will be quarantined in Paris "until further notice", France's prime minister says.

Fourteen Spanish nationals flown from Tenerife to Madrid now face mandatory quarantine at a military hospital in the Spanish capital. British nationals arriving back in the UK will be taken to an isolation facility where they will be kept for up to 72 hours. This began the carefully choreographed process of removing those aboard and repatriating them devised by the Spanish government and the World Health Organization (WHO). Several sat socially distanced on the first evacuation boat, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were met by officials in white protective suits. The first passenger death occurred on 11 April and another on 2 May.