90-Second Read: RFK Jr. orders passenger from Hantavirus-stricken cruise to remain in quarantine in Nebraska, despite CDC recommendation

A woman who was exposed to Hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise has been ordered by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Passengers from the MV Hondius arrive in Nebraska on May 11. Some passengers have been willing to stay voluntarily for the entire 42-day quarantine period, but most have left the facility to continue quarantine at home. Passengers who departed were allowed to go if their state health departments agreed to conduct daily symptom monitoring and continuous 24/7 oversight of each person through June 21, and 10 have left.

On Monday, Kennedy signed an order stating that the federal quarantine remains in effect for her. Nebraska Medicine says the quarantine unit team shared the information that they believed was accurate based on the information they had at the time of the initial quarantine order. At the quarantine unit in Nebraska, staff stop by in full personal protective equipment to check their temperatures twice a day and deliver meals, she says. But Perryman, who initially hoped to leave by June 1, has not been able to go.

The initial federal quarantine period for Perryman was set to end May 31, but it was later extended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through June 21. And Bell said this would meet the intent of the quarantine order, which was to ensure that the public is not exposed to someone who may be infectious. Perryman says she has completely lost trust in doctors, public health and the CDC because there have been too many rescinded promises. Perryman spent $4,000 to rent a house in Florida for a month so she would have a place to stay that was completely private and away from others while she finished the end of the quarantine period, she says.

Instead of the federal government's requirements for continuous monitoring, Florida proposed once-daily telehealth monitoring. When Wadman came to deliver the news about Kennedy's order on Monday, Perryman said, she asked him to slip the paper under her door. We are just detainees, which is a much lower level of responsibility.