Five Australians and one New Zealand citizen from the MV Hondius cruise ship are set to arrive in Perth on a repatriation aircraft today. They are all testing negative for hantavirus and are symptom-free, the federal health minister says.
The passengers will be transferred to a quarantine facility north-east of Perth and will spend at least three weeks there. The repatriation flight left the Netherlands on Thursday night and is due to land at RAAF Base Pearce around 11am.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the passengers will be in full personal protective equipment during the flight and will be tested upon arrival. The quarantine period may be extended up to 42 days based on World Health Organization advice.
Additional resources and personnel from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre have been deployed to the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience to receive the passengers. The facility was established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organization has reported 11 cases of hantavirus in the current outbreak, with three deaths. The latest confirmed cases were in France and Spain, with an inconclusive result in the United States, all linked to the MV Hondius.
Butler noted that hantavirus is rarely transmitted between humans, requiring very close contact. He said authorities are monitoring the outbreak closely.
