90-Second Read: What next for US passengers evacuated from Hantavirus-hit cruise ship?

They are among more than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius who were being evacuated on Sunday. The passengers will only be considered a threat to public health if they were in close contact with someone experiencing Hantavirus symptoms, which is the only way the virus can spread between people. We want to treat it with the Hantavirus protocols that were successful in containing outbreaks in the past." At least seven passengers from the same cruise ship have already returned to the US. Seventeen American passengers from a virus-hit cruise ship docked in Spain's Canary Islands are being flown by a government charter plane to be evaluated at a US medical facility. Seven other US passengers have already returned and are being monitored in their home states.

A British national who resides in the US was being evacuated along with the 17 American passengers. The acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Sunday that the agency was interviewing the MV Hondius cruise ship passengers before their flight to the US. The state-of-the-art Nebraska Medical Center, where the passengers will be flown, contains the National Quarantine Unit, the only federally funded quarantine unit in the US. The passengers were pictured wearing blue gowns, bouffant caps, and medical face masks when they disembarked on Sunday at the port of Grandilla de Abona in Tenerife. A spokeswoman for the medical centre said the passengers were expected to arrive there "early Monday morning".

Once they arrive in Nebraska, officials will "assess them for risk" to the public, Jay Bhattacharya told CNN. In a call with reporters on Saturday, CDC officials said the passengers would not be tested, since none were currently experiencing symptoms. In a news conference on Friday, health officials at the Omaha centre said passengers probably would not need medical help getting off the plane since none were believed to be sick. Officials continue to emphasise that Hantavirus should not be compared to Covid-19, which was much easier to spread. When they arrive at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in the city of Omaha they will be screened by medical officials who will determine whether they are sick and in need of treatment, or healthy enough to return to their.

We don't expect to see any of these passengers transported off on a gurney," said facility director John Lowe. They're going to walk off a plane and walk into a vehicle and get driven over here and head into their quarantine room." Michael Wadman, the director of the National Quarantine Unit, said the passengers would have lots of freedom. Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low. If they weren't in close contact with someone who was symptomatic, then we're going to deem them a low risk," said Bhattacharya. Once back home, they will continue to be monitored by local health officials, "with the CDC support all the way", said Bhattacharya.