US sending plane for Americans on hantavirus cruise ship |
US sending plane for Americans on hantavirus cruise ship
US sending plane for Americans on hantavirus cruise ship
The U.S. will send a charter flight to bring home the remaining 17 Americans who are onboard the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship once it docks off the coast of Spain this weekend.
The State Department is arranging a repatriation flight in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the government of Spain, a State Department spokesperson said.
“We are in direct communication with Americans on board and are prepared to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain,” the spokesperson said.
The U.S. charter flight will bring the passengers to Nebraska, where they will be quarantined at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded quarantine facility.
According to Nebraska Medicine, it is designed specifically to “safely house and monitor people who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases.”
“We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” said Dr. Michael Ash, CEO of Nebraska Medicine in a statement. “Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community. We are proud to support this national effort.”
Five states — Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia — are already monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked from the ship. Officials stressed hantavirus is not COVID-19.
Despite concerns about the fatal virus, health officials maintain the public health........